Secrets that May Save the Universe
by Rey129
Summary: Everything goes odd for UA's class 1-A when they, along with a few of their teachers, wake up in a weird pocket dimension. Turns out that their universe is facing the possibility of destruction and a being known as the Gatekeeper decided to step in to provide them information that'll help them tip the odds more in their favor. How does this being plan to do that? Crossposted on AO3
1. Saving the Universe May Come at a Cost

Darkness. That's all there was, at least at first. Nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to touch. There was no way to tell where one was. Slowly information started to flood in. First was that it was warm, especially whatever was he was snuggling up against. Second was the light pressure of something on the left and a stronger one on the right, pressing up against the entirety of his body. Next came the feel of some air playing in his hair as well a gentle rise and fall centered around where his head was.

"De-un, Dek-un…"

"You… Mid-a, …ng To-ki"

A relatively large weight rested on his shoulder, softly shaking it. Light started to poke at his eyelids, dispersing more and more of the dark fog that hung in his mind. Attempting to escape for a few more minutes, he shuffled more into the warmth, burying himself into the firm, minty fresh object.

"Oi, Deku, Icyhot, wake up, you fuckers!" Explosions sounded to the side, jumpstarting the poor boy's body before his head was working at full power.

The explosions may have cleared out the rest of the cotton in his head, but catapulting up into sitting position caused the world to tip for a few seconds. Besides him, there was a groan, suggesting someone might be experience something similar.

"Oh good, both of you are awake," came the dry comment. Looking in front, there was Uraraka, Aizawa and… All Might in his skeletal form? Izuku squinted a bit, his mind trying to piece together what was going on. He could hear most of his classmates, and even see a few beyond the three in front of him, but he couldn't remember where they were or why All Might would be dressed casually and smaller when surrounded by his students.

Izuku glanced to his right and was met with a splash of red hair, and pink skin surrounding a slightly unfocused eye. The boy blinked a couple of times before turning his head to meet with the eyes looking at him. It took a heartbeat or two before something clicked and then Izuku felt his cheeks awash with heat, his hands flying up to try and cover as much of his face as possible while his feet kicked out in an attempt to put as much distance between him and his classmate who was acting as his pillow not even a minute ago.

"Whelp, it looks like everyone's up," a voice sounded overhead, cutting all arguments off. A huff followed along with something that sounded like a grumbled "and they were so cute, snuggled up together."

"You don't exactly sound happy about it. Now, where are we and who are you?" Aizawa asked, his eyes shooting around the room. All Might was tensed in front of Izuku, his own blue eyes searching for something.

"I would tell you to relax, but seeing as four of you are Pro-Heroes as well as teachers -though one of you is supposed to be retired from both professions- that's not likely to happen. As for your questions, can't I just wish to let two poor cinnamon rolls sleep a little longer. They were so cute!"

Silence followed that comment as both Aizawa and All Might continue their visual dissection of the room, which presumably the two other pros were doing, and the students were questioning the sanity of the being that held them captive.

"Right, most would not agree or understand that. Moving on, for your other questions, I will start by explaining who I am. I am a being known as the Gatekeeper, though you may call me Merritt. I watch over the many realities that exist and make sure things are as they should be. Very rarely do I step in to meddle with the goings on in a reality, only when that reality is facing possible destruction that would cause many negative consequences in others. I don't think I need to explain too much as to why I pulled you here."

"So our reality is possibly going to be destroyed," Present Mic's voice called out from behind Aizawa. Izuku leaned to get a look and saw a blonde with long hair not defying gravity nor was the man decked out in leather. The only hint about who the casually dressed male was his tine mustache and his eyes continued to shoot around what was looking to be more and more like a giant living room.

"That is correct, Present Mic-sensei. Your reality will likely end in a rather violent manner that will cause a lot of problems for me if you do not take steps to prevent it, and even then, those preventative measures will only decrease the chance of your destruction instead of outright save you."

"So what do you propose we do? And why drag these kids into it?" an older and deep voice sounded behind Izuku. The boy turned and- does Gran Torino wear his costume all the time? He and possibly Aizawa were the only ones who looked like they were in uniform. Everyone else that Izuku had seen, himself included, looked more like they were relaxing at home than what was shaping up to be a mass kidnapping.

"One, I can't be involved that much. I may exist outside the realms that you mortals understand, but that doesn't mean I don't have my own set of rules that I must follow, annoying as they may be. Instead, I am more going to give you information that you can use to your advantage. And two," a chuckle accompanied this, "I didn't drag the kids in, as they are the major players in your reality's future. Instead, I dragged along their teachers and someone who is very familiar with the past relevant to the information that will be imparted onto you today."

"Major players?" All Might spoke up, his thin form wound up, as if ready to inflate himself and fight should it come to that. The tension in the room was growing thicker as the students glanced from one another trying to understand what was going on.

"Correct, Yagi-sensei," the anxiety in the room skyrocketed at the name. "Ah, sorry, I figured you wouldn't want your hero identity revealed just yet, though I should warn you, if you decide to accept the information, that will not remain a secret.

"But to answer your question, when All Might retires, it is not a singular pillar that attempts to take on the title of Symbol of Peace, but rather many who become known as the Symbols of Unity. However, when these Symbols are ready to step into the spotlight, the world will be in chaos. Trust in heroes and government in general is shattered, villains come out of the wood work to exert some control on the masses, death and destruction are a rather common sight, far more than it is now. The Symbol of Evil's heir will take his predecessor's place and move out of the shadows to take over the world."

"So the information you are going to provide us with will help us prevent that level of chaos, or at least help us manage it," Aizawa spoke, his eyes narrowed at one point on the ceiling.

"And we get to choose if we wish to accept this information or take our chances," the blond, Present Mic (?), added on.

"Correct on both accounts, though really, most of the information is already known by a few members in the room you are in. In fact, one of their most closely guarded secrets is something that both the Heir and his predecessor want. The predecessor wants his creation back, and the Heir believes it is rightfully his."

Izuku's blood froze. The Symbol of Evil, that could only be All for One. The child had a suspicion on who the Heir was, but did not want to say anything in case he was wrong. However, the "creation" wasn't hard to guess, and from the way All Might's fist clenched, he figured that too. And from the way Aizawa and Todoroki were looking at the skinny man, they noticed.

"I will give you some time to discuss if you are willing to accept the information," Merritt's voice was neutral, as if commenting on the weather instead of letting 24 people decide the fate of their reality. Then again, to them, it might just be. This one just happened to be a thunderstorm instead of something benign.

"Before we do, may we have some ideas, both about how much this information will affect the chances of our reality's survival as well as how you are going to pass this information to us, especially since the kids need to know this," Present Mic requested, his eyes narrowed.

"Of course. Without the information, the chances of your success range from 12% to one sixteenth of a percentile. With it, those odds increase to be between 30 and 50%. Still not the best, but far better than before.

"As for how I will share the information, well, I've always enjoyed the principle of showing, not telling, and, well, look around, doesn't the room you're in look a bit like a rather large living room with a nice long couch to fit a few adults?" At the silence that greeted that comment, there was another sigh. "You see, there are people who have the ability to tap into another's reality and share the stories they see with people in their own. These people are referred to as storytellers, writers or artists. In your class, you happen to have an heir of your own, this heir inheriting the main secret you may be learning about. Well, in another reality, someone tapped into yours and is following that heir's story while sharing it will his own in the form of a manga. That manga has gotten so popular it's gained a rather faithful anime adaptation. And since I don't trust a couple of you with my precious manga, I will be presenting you with the anime version of it."

"W-what do you mean 'following the heir's story'?" Uraraka looked to the spot that Aizawa had been looking to earlier, her body looking like it was screaming to fight. "Do you mean- "

"That one of you is the main character of an anime in another reality? Yes. And they already know exactly who they are. However, to make it easier for the rest of you, no, Bakugo, it is not you."

"What the fuck are you talking about! Who else could possibly be the fucking main character?!"

"I don't know, maybe the one who's going to have an anxiety attack when I point out that by the time the opening to the third episode plays, the biggest secrets that he wanted to hide will be revealed, about one per episode."

Izuku wishes that he could say Merritt was wrong, however the amount of panic and adrenaline that coursed through his body told otherwise. A large weight rested on his shoulder, grounding him before he completely lost himself. The boy glanced up, his eyes meeting the glowing ones of his mentor who was offering the most comforting smile his face could muster in the form it was in now.

"Whelp, I will leave you to discuss things now, as well as have the two… lesser known members of the party introduce themselves."

* * *

Everyone resituated themselves over by the couch that Present Mic had been at during the discussion with Merritt. The three UA teachers commandeered the couch along with Izuku, who curled up on All Might's left. Aizawa sat on the other end of the couch, his sleeping bag draped over the arm. Present Mic sat between the other two heroes, tapping his fingers as he thought. Gran Torino claimed the arm chair that sat to the left of the couch, watching both of his students. The rest of the kids were scattered a bit, forming more of an amoeba than a circle.

"So," Uraraka spoke up from her spot between Izuku and Gran Torino, her eyes bouncing back and forth between All Might and Torino, "may we ask who you are? I mean, a few of us saw you," she indicated to All Might, "when Deku-kun was in the infirmary during the Sports Festival, but we never got to ask you who you were. And I've never seen you before," she said, turning to look at the elderly hero.

"From what Merritt-san said, you're both Pros, but I don't recall ever seeing you in the news, kero," Asui piped up, watching both with her hard to read expression. Like most of the students, they were paying more attention to All Might, given their classmate's obvious familiarity with him.

"Ah, yes," All Might said, clearing his throat, "well I don't get in the news as much as I used to," to this Aizawa scoffed while Mic chuckled, "and I look rather different when in uniform. I actually teacher a couple classes at UA, as well as help Young Midoriya with his quirk, given how similar ours are," and now Gran Torino scoffed.

Curiosity was piqued amongst the students, but they shifted their focus to the still relatively unknown man. Gran Torino looked down at the kids before rolling his eyes a bit. "Name's Gran Torino. I never was big in the news even before I started getting old. Taught at UA for a year and was this one's homeroom teacher," he said, his thumb jabbed at a shivering All Might, "and took this one out for your field training," he continued, now pointing to Izuku, "at least before he wound up in the hospital."

There were a couple cries of shock, but most of all were a couple smacks as hands met foreheads. Aizawa himself was shaking his head before he turned to the elder.

"Gran Torino, according to Merritt, one of the four adults is extremely familiar with the history of the secret we may be learning about today. I am assuming that you are that person?" Gran Torino nodded once, "Then can you give us some idea of what we may be learning about? What is this creation that the villains want?"

"That's a bit hard, not because it's difficult to explain, but because it was never mine to really share. You see, the creation is not a physical thing, but rather a kind of power that's been handed down for as long as quirks have existed." At this, murmurs rippled through the students. A power as old as quirks themselves? That was something that even Izuku would be love to speculate about, if said power didn't rest inside of him, and he was actually feeling anything but dread.

"What is so important about this power? Aside from its age and the fact it can be passed down, it doesn't suggest why a villain would really want it for any other reason than him being the one who created it," Aizawa pressed. Izuku sensed a few eyes on him, questioning, and curled more into All Might.

"Because it's the one power he can't take by force, and it has the potential to beat him. In fact, for a good few years, both myself and Toshinori here were convinced that the eighth holder had destroyed the Symbol of Evil. From what we have learned recently, that's not the case, but either way, he did not escape without heavy injuries.

"However, right now, we need to know if the current holder is willing to reveal his secrets."

Izuku couldn't help but flinch, curling more and more into his mentor. This did not go unnoticed by his classmates who were now staring at him. Tears sprung to his eyes, unable to handle the weight.

"You're rather familiar with the current holder's situation?" Present Mic asked, unable to get a good look at the boy on the other side of his colleague.

"Mostly, though I will admit to having a good idea on his motivation behind keeping the secret. You see, if the information, once revealed, will bring with it other things, things that have a rather heavy stigma in today's society." A stunned silence fell over the students as they looked to the couch, where their classmate was half hidden behind a walking skeleton and the cushions. All Might moved his arm to squeeze between the boy and the back, pulling him forward a bit so he didn't suffocate.

"You're all talking like Deku could keep a secret! The insect can't hide anything to save his life!" Kacchan roared from his spot in the back. The two older pros to either side of the shivering boy sent a quick glare in his general direction, and it was rather hard to say which was more intimidating.

"Normally, I would agree with Bakugo," Todoroki spoke up, though the words sounded a bit like they had to be forced out. "However, I have a feeling that Midoriya would be especially careful if someone asked him to keep the secret as opposed to him just keeping it for himself."

Izuku spoke no words of confirmation, but the quick look he sent the dual quirk user was enough. He turned to hide his face again when All Might's hand rested on his shoulder and pushed the boy into a sitting position.

"Young Midoriya, no one is going to force you, but I want you to think about this. Are you alright with what could happen should everything remain a secret?"

Izuku could not look his mentor in the eye. Shame weighed heavily on the boy, but he couldn't help but war with himself. Yes, by keeping these things a secret, he was risking the survival of their reality, but he wanted to be a little selfish. He finally had friends, friends who weren't scared away by Kacchan. Why would he want to reveal that he's just a quirkless kid and see them leave just like everyone else? After all, who would want to be friends with the quirkless freak?

But… but if he didn't let them learn about One for All, they probably wouldn't live that long. Another few years, perhaps. Not only that, but Gran Torino, All Might, Mom, all the people who knew and still cared for him, all of them would die.

Damn it, why? Why him? Why did he have to sacrifice this? He just wanted to be a hero, so why did he constantly have to be jerked around like that. But then again, being a hero was all about sacrifices. They're constantly risking their lives to protect others. If he wanted to be a hero, if he wanted to be like All Might, he'd have to make sacrifices to. Now if only they didn't hurt so much.

Tears ran down the boy's face as he turned to look his teacher in the eyes. Concern overflowed from the two electric orbs as they looked at each other, silently pleading for a different choice but known there was none. Izuku closed his eyes, and took a shaky breath, leaning once more into All Might. Goodbye friendship, it was nice knowing you.

"Fine."

"You don't need to be so worried, Midoriya," Merritt's voice sounded through the room. "Have a little faith that the people in the room are different than those you grew up with."

Izuku barely acknowledged the Gatekeeper, just soaking up All Might's comfort. He felt something soft being draped over his shoulders and saw a blanket fall over his form.

"I'm providing somethings to help make this a little more comfortable. Blankets and pillows, as well as some beanbags. Also, on the left will be a few restrooms: men, women, and gender neutral. Use whichever you prefer, though I recommend only using them between episodes if you don't want to miss too much. Food and drinks are on the other side when they're required.

"I recommend everyone get settled, because there's two seasons to get to where you are all in the present. I'm still debating between including somethings from your future, so as of right now, you're looking at at least 38 episodes."

"Thank you for the accommodations, Merritt-san, but won't our absences be noticed?" Present Mic finally asked.

"Ah, right, I have yet to explain where exactly you are. You see, I pulled each and every one of you from your reality into a little pocket dimension. I have complete control over the objects in here, and when I return you, it will be like you were never missing in the first place. So you may take as much time as you wish with the episodes, though I recommend not to push them off. Midoriya may have the most revealed, but he is not the only one with things exposed."

With that, Merritt silenced themselves, and left the class to get situated. Izuku did not move too much, just turning so he was facing the screen while wrapped in the blanket (All Might themed, of course). Iida, Uraraka and Todoroki hung close, wanting to try and comfort the poor boy. The lights lowered themselves and the television turned on, starting the first episode.

* * *

 **Yup, I'm doing one of these. Sorry, it just seems so interesting when someone does something like this. I know there are a couple, I've seen them, but I won't be drawing too much from them, as this is my own. Also, I have not yet decided if I'm going to include Season 3 or cut it off after Season 2, as Merritt explained in the story proper. Feel free to comment on if you think I should or not.**

 **For those who are wondering, this takes place right before they go on their training camp, so Shouto is starting to open up and Bakugo is also beginning to grow into a decent human being, but only the teachers and Izuku know who All Might is (obviously), for now. Also, yes, I'm including Mineta because 1) I'm mostly neutral on him, outside his really perverted tendencies and 2) he's in canon and I'm not kicking him out. I have other possible stories to do that in.**

 **Now for things on the story itself: 1) I hc that Izuku really is insecure about his past, particularly related to him being quirkless, and thus really doesn't want others to know about it, especially not his friends. The reason for this is due to the bullying he grew up with leaving its scars. I mean, he his only friends left him as soon as they found out he was quirkless. I don't think he wants a repeat of that, even if we know that 1-A isn't like that at all. 2) Yes, I ship Tododeku. However, I will try and keep it so that they really only seek comfort from each other as the story goes on, as well as occasional small fluffs that can be platonic if you wish it. So don't worry about kissing or anything more. I mean, both are very awkward cinnamon rolls who are still getting used to friendship, plus they're surrounded by their classmates and teachers. 3) I'm using the subs. I have no problems with the dub, I was just introduced to it via the subs, and I have no clue how to change the language settings on Crunchyroll since Hulu is being annoying. Yes, it'll be hard to properly get down things the subtitles can't give you, but it'll also be easier for me since the lines are written right on screen.**

 **Hnn, that's it for now, see you guys next time! Please RR!**


	2. Ep 1 Midoriya Izuku: Origin

**Before we begin** _italics_ **are the things happening in the episode. Regular text is things happening outside the episode, or just a quick explication so I don't have to break things up too much.**

 **Dear god, this took forever. It took me 6 hours to just do the first ten minutes. These kids would just not be quiet! Then again, my school's club is the same way, so... I'd hate to see someone try and transcribe one of our meetings. Oh well, episode 1 down. Hopefully they'll learn to be quieter after all the exposition is done.**

 **Also, Fireninja, I'm actually not the first to do this for BNHA. If you check out this fic on AO3, it will lead you to two other fics that are also about the characters watching the show. That or PM me and I'll put the info in the next chapter.**

* * *

 _The scene opened on a clock before shifting over to a rather young looking Izuku, crying._

 _"T-That's mean, Kacchan." The shot jumped out to show another child kneeling behind Izuku, holding his arm. "C-Can't you see he's crying." The obviously terrified look didn't leave the boy as he shifted into a fighting stance, or at least the best one he could do. "I-If you keep going, I-I-I'll never forgive you!" Just as Izuku made his bold statement, the shot bulled out again, revealing 3 other children staring down the two crying, one with a rather distinct puff of hair._

"Well, at least your fighting stance has improved," Gran Torino commented on while the others were more surprised at who young Izuku was talking to than the fact that he was trying to stand up for someone else.

"I was little, okay? Mom didn't want me learning martial arts as she thought I'd get hurt, so I was just copying what I saw from videos," Izuku muttered. A few of his classmates gave him side eyes before glancing down at where his right arm was hidden.

 _The camera then cut to face the three other boys. Two unknown faces stood behind with what could only be a dumbfounded Bakugo in front. Bakugo then scoffed while the other two moved to show off their quirks, one red demon wings and the other elongating his fingers._

 _"Even though you're quirkless…" the young Bakugo started before cutting to a closeup of his hands as he punched one into the other, releasing an explosion, "you're pretending to be a hero, Deku?"_

Murmurs filled the room. Midoriya, quirkless? What is Bakugo talking about? Izuku himself flinched at the word and was starting to curl in on himself again, turning his head to try and bury his face into All Might's side without aggravating the old wound.

"While it may be tempting to ask questions, I recommend saving them for a little while. Like good stories, the answers will be revealed if you are patient," Merritt's voice cut off their mutterings and pulling their attention for a second so they almost missed seeing the three boys attacking young Izuku before the cut.

"Wait, did they just go three on one? How's that fair, Bakugo?" Kirishima called out, turning to face the blond.

"Shut up, will you. We're here to find out whatever that shitface nerd is hiding, not talk about what it was like when we were little!"

A few of the students look like they wanted to argue but were cut off when an unexpected voice. "Guys, it's fine, that was years ago," Izuku said, not really looking anywhere but at the screen as it showed him on the ground with the other crying boy kneeling over him. "Besides, that wasn't all that uncommon back then."

Gran Torino looked the boy up and down before turning to the other Pros. "Might I suggest counselling for this one?"

All Might sighed and wrapped his arm around his young successor. "We probably should have started that at the beginning of the year," he muttered, only heard by the few around him.

 _"All men are not created equal," their Izuku's voice spoke over the shots of his beaten up younger self. "That was the reality about society I learned at the age of four." A shot of the sky was disturbed by a red shoe splashing though a now obvious puddle. "That was my first and last setback." The screen then cut to watch as Izuku in a black Gakuen running off, clearing heading somewhere exciting._

"Oh, you look so happy, Deku-kun!" Uraraka said, perking up at the boy's smile as he continued to run. "Where are you heading?"

"Uh, let's see, this was back in middle school, and probably before school if I remember that route correctly, plus with how excited I am, it could really only be…"

 _The scene changed to show a giant whose nose made up majority of his face as he let out a roar. The scene quickly cut back to Izuku watching in awe before a quick name card appeared around the boy. The camera then faced the villain, pulling out to reveal Tatooin Train Station and a large crowd of onlookers._

 _"That's a huge villain."_

The sound of hands smacking foreheads reverberated across the room. Of course Izuku would run towards a villain fight, he was probably hoping to take notes on the heroes there.

 _The scene changed as parts of All Might were illuminated by a golden glow. A guitar accompanied the lights and continued before switching to a stunned Izuku looking on while bathed in the same golden glow._

"Oh my god, the look on your face, Midoriya! You look like you can't believe All Might's right there!" Kaminari laughed, a few of the classmates joining in. Izuku himself was too distracted by trying to figure out what was going on. He didn't remember every being in that position with All Might.

"Oh, this must be our opening!" Uraraka exclaimed, looking rather please by the thought.

"You know, kero, now that I look at it, Midoriya-chan, you look a lot skinnier in the shot than you do now," Asu-Tsuyu mentioned, looking at the screen with as the boy stood up.

"Huh, now that you mention it. I mean, Midoriya never looks particularly strong, but he looks really skinny back then," Satou agreed, looking both versions of the boy.

Izuku blinked before thinking about it for a second, watching as his counterpart was reaching towards All Might. "Well, I worked out a lot during my third year of middle school to get ready for the entrance exam. This is probably set before that." His classmates and teachers readily agreed with that assessment, after all, it made a lot of sense.

"OMG, WE EACH GET OUR OWN NAME CARDS!" Ashido shouted, hugging the floating tee shirt next to her.

"Aww, none for us?" Present Mic joked, rubbing his elbow against Aizawa.

"Apparently you aren't important enough to get one," came the dry response. Present Mic dramatically gripped his heart before leaning against All Might, saying something about how mean Eraser was. Aizawa only rolled his eyes at the display, though a couple of the more observant students noted something similar to amusement in his eyes.

 _The title card faded, being replaced by a night shot of the city. Izuku stood on a bridge looking at something overhead, being soaked by the rain. He then turns, not looking up at the lights that surrounded him. He walked on, the camera turning to face him and old notebooks flashed in the background._

"Hero Analysis for the Future? Deku-kun, how many notebooks do you have?"

"Hn? Let's see, I started the 13th right before the third year of middle school, and I've yet to fill it up completely, so…"

The class and teachers all turned to the boy while also leaning ever so slightly away. The only one not surprised was All Might, who just shook his head and watched as the notebooks fell to the ground before a young Izuku and Bakugo faced each other.

"Well that's a rather violent relationship," Gran Torino commented, watching as both boys on screen turned to punch each other. The students were all unnerved as the screen shattered to reveal Shigaraki reaching towards them.

"So we're going to be covering USJ in this season," Todoroki commented, watching as All Might exchanged blows with Noumu before Kurogiri took over the screen, which then switched over to Aizawa-sensei taking out a few villains, much to the cheer of the students.

"We look so cute!" Uraraka proclaimed, hugging Tsuyu as both flew across the screen. Iida looked rather pleased with himself, being able to show off in the opening.

"Todoroki, does your expression ever change?" Kaminari asked as the other boy surfed onto the screen.

"Of course it does. However, right now, I'm glad I redid my costume." The class could agree with that, looking back on how it used to look.

They watched as Bakugo gave his best silent battle cry before Izuku came running to throw a punch. Most were confused as the arm flashed between All Might's and Izuku's but decided either symbolism or they'll get an explanation later.

As the last shots of the students rolled, a few leaned forward to see who was doing the animation. "Wait," Ashido started, reading the credits once more to be sure, "Studio Bones is the one handling the animation…"

"Yes!" Kaminari shot up before turning to high five Kirishima and Sero. "Awesome fight scenes coming our way!" The teachers looked on with ranging levels of amusement, All Might shaking his head before turning to look at the boy practically velcroid to his side. Izuku was smiling as he watched his classmates have fun and picking fun at Ojirou who's onscreen counterpart was stuck in air doing a kick of some kind.

 _The scene shifted to show what looked to be a hospital with one window shining. The older Izuku explained the beginning of quirks while showing the father freaking out about the glowing baby. It continued to explain the growing prevalence of quirks while showing several children using their newly discovered gifts._

 _"The world became a superhuman society…" a cape fluttered before revealing a broad chest covered in red, white and yellow. The figure walked forward as the narration continued. "…and now about 80% of the world's population now has some kind of special trait."_

"Huh, is that how much it is? Seems a lot more common than that now a' days" Mic commented, rubbing his chin.

"That's because most of that statistic is counting the older generations," All Might explained, gently rubbing Izuku's back as the boy started to curl up again. "It's becoming less and less common to not have a quirk. I can remember it being closer to maybe 60-70% of the population having quirks when I was growing up."

"Yeah, it was about 45% when I first became a hero," Gran Torino added. The students looked to the elderly pro with wide eyes. They knew he was many years older than their teachers, but just how old was he? As if sensing their question, the small man turned and glared at the kids. They wisely turned their attention back to the screen.

 _Light enveloped the tall, muscular figure of All Might before shifting back to the villain fight from before the opening. The giant turned and smacked a steel frame off the track, causing it to fall to the street. Death Arms quickly ran out under the frame and caught it, to the awe of the civilians held back by the police. One of the citizens who was not Izuku quickly gave an explanation on both him and Backdraft, who showed up to create a barrier between everyone and the action._

 _The camera jumped back to where Izuku was shown trying to see around the crowd. Two civilians were heard commenting on the chain of events that lead to the fight._

 _"You can do it, Kamui!" a bunch of fangirls cried out as the young hero arrived on scene. The masked youth jumped out of the villain's grasp, pulling his attention away from the destruction of the train track._

 _Izuku was finally shown making it to the front line, asking who was fighting before answering himself. The man next to him even commented on it._

"He has a point there, Midoriya-kun. Maybe we should have you help commentate the next sports festival," Present Mic speculated. A few of the students were shown to be agreeing with their teacher while the boy himself was trying to decline, saying that this was more of a hobby of his than anything.

"I think Young Midoriya would rather be participating than commentating," All Might chuckled, giving the boy a pat and a fond smile. Mic acquiesced and turned back to the screen as a few classmates chuckled, saying something about only known Izuku for a few seconds and already having him pegged.

 _Kamui was shown running at the villain, avoiding getting crushed by the hand reaching towards him. The youth then displayed an impressive level of agility, flying through the air and landing on top of the station._

 _"Illegal use of powers during rush hour and robbery resulting in bodily injury. You are the incarnation of evil."_

"Um, has Kamui not seen much action? There's no way a purse snatcher is worse than the League of Villains," Ojirou asked, turning to the resident expert. Izuku himself blinked as more eyes turned to him, seeking an explanation, all while Kamui on screen prepared his move.

"While Kamui Woods is relatively new on the scene, he has been in a few big battles. Calling a villain the 'incarnation of evil' is more likely to be how he markets himself than what he actually believes." Pacified, the students turned back to the screen just as the villain was kicked off the tracks.

"Mt. Lady!" Mineta cried out, the only one really reacting to the other hero's sudden appearance. The class was still stunned as the rows of photographers were taking shots.

 _"Today is the day of my debut," the giantess was shown tending to the villain. She then turned to the audience, "My name is Mt. Lady. A pleasure to meet your ass-quantience," the heroine said, winking while showing the photographers what they were apparently after._

"Wait, Midoriya," Mineta paused, turning to the boy on the couch. Izuku tilted his head, curious to what his classmate was going to say. "You were at Mt. Lady's debut and you didn't tell me!"

"A-ah," Izuku chuckled awkwardly, his hand scratching the back of his head while avoiding clocking All Might in the chest. "It's never come up before. Besides, I've happened to be at a few heroes debuts before, so it's not much of a big deal to me."

The class stared at the boy, ignoring villain being taken into custody.

"Midoriya," Tokoyami spoke up, confusion lacing his voice, "are you drawn by some kind of force to these events?"

This caught All Might off guard as he started laughing rather hard, spraying a bit of blood and causing the students to panic while tissues were apparated into the skeletal man's lap. Izuku, used to this kind of display, instead turned pink and buried himself in the blanket. Once reassured that All Might was fine, the students turned back to the screen, unsettled by the adults' attitude towards a man spewing blood like Izuku shed tears.

 _Izuku looked out over the crater created when the villain landed, notebook in hand, speculating on the quirks displayed, particularly Mt. Lady's. The man from earlier took notice._

 _"Oi, you're taking notes? You wanna be a hero? That's great! You can do it!" This apparently caught the boy's attention as he put the notebook down and smiled at the man._

 _"Yes! I'll do my best!"_

"Aww, Deku-kun, you look so happy!"

"Yes, Midoriya does seem to be especially pleased by what the man said."

"It's almost like he doesn't get to hear it that often, kero." At this comment, the blanket cocoon to All Might's side flinched slightly, only noticeable to those with keen eyes. Sadly, most of the room had that given their chosen profession, though they chose not to comment on it.

 _"Since you're all third years," a new voice spoke up, "it's time you think seriously about your future." There on screen, were a punch of students sitting at their desks, most looking at the adult in the front, though the two familiar sets were seemingly not paying attention. "I'll pass out handouts for your future plans now, but," the screen jumped to show the teacher from the front, snatching the handouts off his desk, while a couple of students started to display their quirks, "you're all pretty much planning on going into the hero course, right?"_

"That is not even remotely how a teacher should be acting at all!" Iida yelled at the screen, his arms chopping the air.

"That is… quite an array of quirks," All Might commented, raising his eyebrow at the open displays happening in the classroom.

"Is that guy pulling his eyes out of their sockets?!"

"What happened to that one's Gakuen?!"

"Why is the teacher allowing this to happen in the classroom?"

"Hey, Midoriya, how come you don't seem to excited?" Kirishima asked, turning to the blanket cocoon. He received no answer, though noted that it was now slightly shivering.

Izuku, meanwhile, knew exactly what was going on. He remembered this day all too well. Why, why did they have to see this? Only a few people knew Bakugo used to pick on him, but they didn't know how bad it actually was. Now they were going to see, and probably not want to be friends with him anymore. After all, who would want to be friends with someone so weak that they couldn't even stand up to their childhood friend after 10 years? He just barely felt All Might's hand running up and down is back, doing his best to comfort the poor boy.

 _"Sensei!" a familiar voice broke through the room, pulling everyone's attention to the explosive blond who had his feet on the table. "Don't lump us all in the same group. I'm not going to be stuck at the bottom with the rest of these rejects!"_

Outcries rang through the room as classmates both old and new chastised the blond for his attitude. Even the teachers added in their own two cents, though mostly they just made a note to work on that when they got back.

 _"Oh, if I remember correctly, you want to go to UA high, don't you, Bakugo?"_

 _"Eh? UA? The national school?"_

 _"It was in the top 0.2% this year, you know?"_

 _"Their acceptance rate is always really low, too!"_

"How come everyone's so impressed? I mean, yes UA is a really high-end school, but both Midoriya and Bakugo got in."

"We went to Orudera, a public school which is not exactly well known for its successful graduates, if there are any," Izuku explained, not lifting his head as Bakugo jumped on the desk, boasting about how well he did on the mock exam. The class turned back just as Bakugo made is declaration to surpass All Might.

"That's a rather lofty goal you have there, Young Bakugo," the pro hero himself commented, not that the other students knew that.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean!" the boy roared, his hands alight with explosions before they were snuffed out by a glare from Aizawa.

"Just as he said, Bakugo. It's a very hard to obtain goal, one that you'll need to work hard on and change your attitude for." The explosion user glared at his teacher before sitting down and turning back to the screen just as all the middle schoolers started laughing about Midoriya also trying for UA.

"What are they laughing about? Midoriya's got an awesome quirk and could easily get in!" Mineta asked, turning to the couch for some explanation while hearing the jibes at their classmate.

"Yeah, what do they mean 'just by studying'? You were in the top 10 on the entrance exam!"

Instead of receiving an answer from the boy himself, they saw the blanket cocoon once more try to hide between the skeletal man and the couch, now noticeably shaking. His human shield looked down at where the boy was in concern, though made no comment. Were things really that bad for his young successor before they met?

 _"Oi, Deku!" an explosion rang out, once more silencing everyone. "You are below the rejects! You're Quirkless! How can you even stand in the same ring as me?"_

"Quirkless? What are you talking about? We've seen Deku-kun's quirk!"

"Midoriya, why aren't you even denying it?"

"Because, if I am correct, at this point in time, Midoriya's quirk has yet to show itself," Aizawa's voice cut through the student's murmurs. All the young eyes looked to their teacher while in the background, anime Izuku tried to pacify the blond.

"One thing I noticed about Midoriya's records when I was first given the class list was that until a few days after the entrance exam, Midoriya was marked as quirkless. In fact, from my understanding, his first time using his quirk may very well have been at the exam."

"I will not confirm nor deny not Aizawa has said, as that will be shown soon enough. However, I highly recommend returning your attention to the screen, as some important things are about to appear, as well as the set up to a very important lesson for the class," Merritt's voice rang out. The students glanced at each other before turning to the partially hidden blanket cocoon and then the screen, which was currently paused on the image of Izuku looked down upon by shadowed demons with red eyes that vaguely looked like his former classmates.

 _"What can you do! You're quirkless!"_

 _Silence followed that declaration before the scene shifted to reveal the city, with the time revealing it was just after noon. A scream cried out as the camera moved to reveal a slime… thing running away with money stuck to his back and someone yelling about a thief._

 _"Catch me if you can!" the slime seemed to say as it continued on, unimpeded._

 _"What, there's no hero around? Normally someone would come right away." The screen focused on a man in very obviously baggy clothes walking out of a convenience store._

 _"This guy's taking advantage of the chaos from this morning." The camera turned to reveal more of the man, who looked kind of like the skeletal one sitting on the couch. He stood up straighter as he looked out on the scene._

 _"There are tons of people who don't know what to do with their quirks." Once more, the screen focused on the slime villain, as he ran. It then jumped back to the previous shot to show as the skinny man seemed to inflate to a very familiar figure. "There's no end to them."_

 _"There is an end," an extremely familiar voice said causing majority of the people both on and off screen to jump in surprise. The camera then panned around as the figure stepped out into the light. "Why?"_

 _Once more, the screen jumped to the fleeing villain, who turned to see who the new arrival was. His eyes widened in shock upon recognition of the famous smile._

 _"Because I am here." Then the screen cut to the title card._

Two loud smacks sounded off from behind as the students flinched and turned to the teachers. Both Aizawa and Gran Torino had their hands slapped over their head while All Might was trying to cover as much of his face as he could and Mic had his head cradled in both hands and was shaking his head. Even Izuku poked his head out from where he had hidden and was look at the screen in some level of disbelief. He then uttered something that caught his classmates off guard, and would have gone unnoticed if it weren't for the silence.

"Huh, so that's why you were chasing him that day."

There was a beat before the children exploded.

"What the?!"

"Why was All Might skinny?!"

"There's no way that could be All Might! His quirk is super strength, not inflating like a balloon!"

"Plus, wouldn't people have noticed by now! That was out in the open!"

"Will all of you kids just shut up!" Merritt's voice roared overhead. Several mouths that were open clicked shut as they all shrunk down slightly. A hiss of air followed after a second's pause. "Gods, how do you deal with these kids? I've met five-year olds better behaved.

"Now, if I recall correctly, I told you at the beginning of the episode to hold out on your questions as they will be answered if you are patient. This is another case of that. Just watch the show without causing anymore outbreaks. If you can't do that, I will start to gag you so I don't have to deal with the noise," Merritt stated. There was a moment of silence before they spoke up again. "I just realized what comes next in the episode, and how most of you are likely to react, so…"

Snap!

Shouts of surprise were muffled as clothes suddenly appeared around nearly everyone's head, covering the mouths. The gags didn't appear to be tied in the back, instead being loops perfectly sized to silence the person. Accompanying the gags were bracelets. They were simple in design, a simple band on each wrist. However, their use became obvious with the lack of explosions, fire, ice, or any other quirk. The only ones to not be given the new accessories were Izuku and Aizawa, though Bakugo's gag looked suspiciously more like duct tape than fabric.

"There, that should avoid any outbursts. I'll remove the gags when I believe that you will be able to watch without exploding at each other. Now, watch the show and stop dragging this out!"

 _They were back in the classroom, the clock showing it was now a few minutes after the last bell rang. Students were shown leaving while Izuku was still at his desk, scrolling through his phone._

 _"The incident from this morning is all over the headlines. I want to hurry up and go home so I can write it down in my notebook."_

 _Right as Izuku was going to put his last notebook in his bag, it was snatched out of his hands. Bakugo waved it around while looking down his nose at his childhood… friend?_

 _"We're not done talking yet, Deku."_

 _"Katsuki, what's that?" Bakugo's friend asked, walking up to the two boys along with another boy. Izuku was watching the notebook, his eyes wide as he looked on to the other boys laugh about his Hero Analysis for the Future._

 _"It's fine, isn't it? Give it back!"_

All Might felt something press more into his side, starting to aggravate the old wound, not that he'd tell the poor boy. Instead, he rubbed his hand up and down the back of the blanket cocoon, feeling it vibrate his side and what might have been drops of water onto his shirt and the top of his pants.

Izuku, meanwhile, barely noticed. He was no longer surrounded by his friends, he was back in Orudera, Kacchan holding his notebook, still in pristine condition. His hands were pressed against his ears, trying to block out their laughs, the explosions, the suggestion… all playing on loop, and joined by other taunts and jabs from before that day.

Why? Why? He never wanted anyone to know about this. He never told All Might about his classmates in middle school, never told his mom how he cut the scrapes and bruises and burns, never told anyone about the _advice_ his classmates and upperclassmen would give him. Why does this have to come out _now?_ All Might's probably regretting his choice.

Picking up on the boy's distress, Uraraka, Iida and Todoroki all turned to the couch. They watched as the cocoon trembled, then to the flesh coated skeleton, and then finally once more at their friend. Uraraka reached out and rubbed her hand about where she imagined Izuku's arm was, Iida reached around her to pat his shoulder, and Todoroki just leaned back, his head just barely resting against Izuku's leg.

While they went unnoticed by their recipient, the touches brought a warmth to Toshinori's heart. His successor may not have had friends before, but he certainly has them now. And all of them are good kids.

 _Bakugo punched the notebook between his hands as Izuku watched on in horror. His notebook now smoking, burnt, and tattered before being tossed out the window by the person who had done the damage._

"Bakugo," Aizawa's voiced was hard, "when this is over, we are having a serious discussion about destroying other people's property." The students closer to the screen turned to see their teacher looking at the ash blond, who seemed… uncomfortable? Ashamed? Uraraka, Iida and Todoroki also had their eyes on their classmate, glaring holes into his skull. All Bakugo did was shift ever so slightly and gave a small nod.

 _"Most top string heroes have stories about them from their school days," Bakugo's voice came clear and cold, his expression matching. "I want the shine of being able to be called the only student to make it into UA from this mediocre city middle school. I mean, I am a perfectionist."_

 _"He's so petty."_

"Huh, even your classmates from middle school knew your personality, kero," Tsuyu commented. The students turned to her, eyebrows raised. They noted that the cloth that had been previously in her mouth now hung around her neck.

"I realized that a few more of you than I initially figured were not likely to react explosively and thus loosened their gags. The quirk suppressors are still on and if I am wrong about their reactions, the gags are back in place," Merritt explained, along with some grumbling that was hard to distinguish.

 _Bakugo placed his hand on Izuku's shoulder, smoke rising. Izuku visibly tensed, a faint whimper escaping. The camera switched over to show the two boys, Izuku looking terrified of the hand while Bakugo was giving a practically vicious smile._

 _"So anyway, don't apply to UA, nerd." Izuku turned from the hand to the face in front of his, visibly shaking, but no words came from him._

 _Bakugo started to walk away, his friends following him. Izuku stood in his spot, listening to them as they went._

 _"Come on, you could at least say_ something _back."_

 _"Don't say that. He's pathetic. He still can't face reality."_

 _Bakugo stopped right as he reached the door. He turned his head to look over his shoulder at the green haired boy._

 _"If you really wanna be a hero that badly, there's a quick way to do it: believe you'll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof!"_

Multiple wordless cries rang out from the room. Seriously, why would anyone say that, let alone an aspiring hero! Anger coursed through All Might's veins and he could barely feel One for All, just out of reach.

A throat was loudly cleared, cutting over the gagged shouts and turning heads towards the couch. There, Aizawa and Present Mic sat, their faces hard as they looked at their students.

"I do not have to say that that kind of behavior will not accepted, especially not from future heroes," the brunet explained, his eyes focused on Bakugo. "We will be discussing this when we get back."

"However," Mic cut in, "we ourselves cannot hand down any kind of punishment for this incident, as it was before Bakugo was our student." He surveyed the students and noted that the ones closest to Midoriya looked ready to pounce. Huh, maybe the gags and quirk suppressors weren't such a bad idea after all.

"But know that should we see anything like this kind of behavior again, from you or any other UA student, the punishment will be swift and as severe as the act itself."

There was a moment of silence as the words sunk in and the students to calm down. Toshinori in the meantime turned his attention back to the boy at his side. His successor was still shivering, and there were definitely wet spots on his shirt. The skeletal man watched for a second before deciding screw it, Merritt could probably provide him some medication if he needs it.

Izuku tried his best to block out what was going on. He heard the cries and Aizawa as well as Present Mic quieting his classmates, but he couldn't hear what exactly was said, nor if All Might himself spoke. Tears were uncontrollable now, continuously flowing down. He felt the subtle shifting underneath him and the large hand on his back leave. He knew it, oh god he knew-

The arm was back, this time over his shoulders and pulling him into a very skinny torso with a strength those twigs should not possess. It took a second to realize what was happening, but once it hit, Izuku wrapped his arms around All Might and broke down into the man's embrace.

Several minutes passed as they waited for the boy to calm down. This-was it really such a good idea to watch the anime if it did this to one of the students? But, but things were going to get better, right? This was only the first episode, and Izuku was still here, still trying to be a hero, and overall still their happy, friendly classmate/student.

Finally, the tears slowed down enough for Izuku to poke his head out from under the blanket, though he still clung to All Might like a lifeline. The man's lips twitched up into a faint smile, which the boy tried to return. A tap on his side drew Izuku's attention towards the front, where his classmates were giving their brightest, friendly, encouraging smiles. A couple like Todoroki and Shouji's looked a little off, and Hagakure's was like the rest of her body, but they were there. Even Present Mic was giving his 1000W grin from around All Might. This, this actually got a watery smile out of the green hair boy as a few more tears escaped.

Gran Torino's lips twitched up a bit at seeing his former student and his successor. One for All users were always close, sometimes the predecessors acting as parental figures to their pupil. Turning his eyes to the ceiling, where apparently everyone agreed to look when addressing Merritt.

"So how much more of this? Because I highly doubt the entire show is just going to be painful memory after painful memory, especially for the brat." Oh, that got a few unimpressed looks from the group, including Toshinori. However, it did get Midoriya to give a little less of a wet smile.

"Hm, well, it's mostly only the first two episodes that'll be painful for Midoriya," Merritt's voice explained. "Don't get me wrong, several others will be getting some painful memories dragged up, but these two episodes are going to reopen several old wounds that have yet to heal. In fact, it won't be until the end of the next episode that things will start to get better."

"Can't we just skip to that then and spare Midoriya's feelings?" Kaminari asked. Several other students were shown nodding along with him.

"Because without context, some things won't make sense, now will they? However, if Midoriya wishes, I can provide something so that he doesn't have to watch."

"Guys, i-it's fine, I can handle it," Izuku said, trying his best at a brave smile. Instead of being reassured, his classmates gave him worried looks, and a few tried to reassure him that he didn't have to. "Th-though it would help…"

"If you had some idea of what else is to come?" Merritt's voice sounded patient, gentle, for the first time. At Izuku's nod, a sigh sounded out. "That I can do. After this will be a set of three flashbacks, with the middle being the visit to Dr. Tsubasa," at this Izuku grimaced. Oh joy… "After will be what happens under the bridge, with the episode ending after you asked that all important question on the roof. Next episode will continue where that left off, and go all the way to when someone admits that they were wrong." Now it was All Might's turn to grimace. While he had not been wrong with what he had said to Young Midoriya about being a hero without a quirk, he still regretted how he said it, especially now that he saw what had happened before they met.

Izuku took a deep breath before nodding and the show started again.

 _On screen, Izuku was shown to be boiling over from Bakugo's statement and about to finally take on the blond, only for all of that anger to vanish when Bakugo set off a series of explosions._

 _The scene cut to outside the school building, where Izuku was shown looking for his notebook, all the while scolding Bakugo in his head._

 _"Idiot! If I really jumped, that would mean you instigated a suicide! Think before you speak!" Our hero, who cares more about the consequences of someone telling him to go kill himself than even contemplating the idea._

 _He notices the notebook floating in a pond, being nibbled on by some koi. He reaches out to grab it, quietly reprimanding them for thinking it was food. As he stood there, looking at the now scorched book, the scene blurred out and a young voice could be heard._

 _"Mom!"_

"Aww!" all the girls and even a few of the guys cried out as young Izuku slid out from behind the door.

"Deku-kun! You were so cute!" Uraraka exclaimed, looking up towards her friend. Izuku meanwhile was trying his best to hide himself. All Might just chuckled and shook his head, rubbing the boys shoulder. It's a little weird that the skeletal grin he had was becoming less and less creepy.

"He's even holding an All Might action figure!"

"An All Might fan since day one."

"Aw, is that your mom, Midoriya? She's so pretty!"

"What's on the computer? You sure are excited."

"This explains a lot. Excessively hitting the back of the chair with the head must have damaged the part of the brain responsible for basic survival instinct."

"Eraser, please don't pick on the kids."

 _"Jeez, you've probably added ten thousand views just by yourself, Izuku. It's too scary for me. I can't watch."_

 _"That was an old video," the narration took over with the camera moving to show the video little Izuku was going to be watching. "A disaster that happened a long time ago. The video of a hero that debuted right after that."_

"Wait, are we?"

"Yes! Oh god, I remember watching that video so much when I was a kid!" Several cheers of agreement sounded off around the room.

"And I thought I'd get away with not having to hear that laugh," Aizawa deadpanned, watching as a civilian was freaking out over how little time it took his colleague to rescue so many people while laughing.

"Midoriya looks like he's about to have his first or-"

"Never finish that sentence, idiot. Especially when it's related to a child."

The room quieted as All Might loudly set his foot down, smiles growing while Gran Torino and Aizawa just rolled their eyes at the display and looked over at the very flattered skinny version of the man on screen.

 _"It's fine now. Why?"_

 ** _"Because I am here!"_** the students called out in time with the video. Laughing with each other as little Izuku went on about how much he wanted to be like All Might.

"Um, does anyone notice the look Midoriya-san has? Cause I really don't like that look." Kaminari said, pointing at Izuku's mom. All the students watched as the scene changed, Izuku wincing as Dr. Tsubasa took center screen.

 _"You should probably give it up."_

"Well, that was blunt," Jirou commented, everyone else too stunned by the whiplash.

 _"That's… Is something wrong with him after all? Most of the other kindergarteners' quirks have already manifested…_

 _"He's the only one…"_

 _"Excuse me, but you're fourth generation, right, ma'am? May I ask your quirk?"_

 _"Yes, of course. I can pull small objects to me," Izuku's mom explained, demonstrating on her son's action figure that he dropped earlier in his shock. "My husband can breathe fire."_

"Well, there goes the Dad Might theory," Mineta commented.

"Wait, all of you actually thought..." Izuku asked, his voice trailing off as he looked at all his classmates.

"To be fair, all the evidence did point to that being the case," Todoroki stated, while several of their classmates were shocked that Midoriya actually knew about their theory. He himself still had doubts that the theory was disproven, but he didn't want to accuse Izuku's mother of adultery. That was something the shitty old man would do, not the person who raised the person who was practically sunshine incarnate.

"Todoroki-kun, I already told you that wasn't the case at all!"

The adults themselves were of no use in this situation. Three of them were poking fun at the fourth's misery, while the man himself was trying to figure out what was going on.

His students that that he and Young Midoriya were… it did make sense from an outsider's point of view, and he'd be lying if he said the idea didn't sound appealing to him… But the boy already has a father, one who probably cared deeply for him.

Next to him, Izuku was quietly freaking out. Yes, he knew about the theory they had about his relationship with All Might, but he couldn't exactly bring it up with the man himself! Plus, something he would never admit to out loud, he was scared of All Might's reaction. Would he laugh about it or would he just shoot it down immediately?

Izuku knew all he was was All Might's successor, the one to carry his touch when he no longer could, but that didn't stop a small part from hoping he could be more. After all, the man had been there for him more in the past year than his own father had his whole life, and that meant a lot.

The class pretty much ignored the two crises in the back to continue one with their own theorizing.

"Okay, so All Might isn't Midoriya's dad. Still doesn't explain the quirk," Kirishima stated, with other members of the Bakusquad, as they've been calling themselves, nodding.

"Yeah, last time I checked, pulling stuff with the mind and breathing fire did not combine into strength augmentation," Sero agreed.

Honestly, several more would have chimed in, if it weren't for the very loud "Ahem" from overhead. The students settled quickly and returned their attention back to the screen.

 _"Normally, by the age of four, he would have manifested one of those quirks or some combination of the two._

 _"In the past, when the superpowers first started showing up, the results of an early research study were published. It became common practice to see if the pinky toe was missing a joint or not. When parts of the body aren't being used, they're deemed unnecessary. People who didn't have the joint were thought to be a newly evolved form._

 _"You can see by looking at this x-ray that Izuku-kun has two joints. It's unusual to see that these days, but that means that he has no quirk."_

"Wait, so that's how they tell if you have a quirk or not, if you can bend a toe or not?" Ashido asked, turning back to the teachers. Mic and Aizawa just shrugged while All Might was quietly nodding.

"That actually explains a few things," Todoroki commented, his eyes not leaving the screen. The class looked to him, hoping he'd explain. Thankfully, he picked up on that. "According to Nee-chan, before Ryuuji-nii-san and I were born, our brother, Shoichi, was diagnosed as quirkless as well. After that, my father would occasionally be shown occasionally checking both of our toes."

"My cousin's kinda the same way," Kirishima chimed in. "I mean, he's the one who's quirkless, but after his kid was born, he'd be seen playing with their toes, wiggling them. He was actually the one that figured that they had one of those non-visible quirk when it seemed like they didn't have one at all."

Izuku looked at his classmates. They had just heard the diagnosis, they knew he wasn't supposed to have a quirk. But they weren't reacting. They were talking about the signs of it, but in a way that didn't suggest that they thought that people without quirks were weak, a burden, useless. Then again, all of them had seen him use a quirk. Maybe they'll leave as soon as they realize where his came from.

 _A quiet piano played in the background as it rained outside the apartment building. The scene cut to show young Izuku's two All Might posters, barely visible thanks to the light of the computer. The video from earlier could be heard._

"Okay, that is probably the most depressing I've ever heard All Might's laugh," Kaminari commented, the other students around him nodding.

"Often, we will find that the world around us mirrors the darkness within us."

"Oh my god, Tokoyami, can you please not be an edgelord right now!"

 _"Mom," Izuku spoke up from his chair in front of the computer. His voice was shaking, hard. The video was paused on the hero's famous smile, a small amount of blood trickling down this temple and cheek. "He saves everyone with a smile, no matter what trouble they're in. He's such a cool hero." The chair turned just as the boy's mother took a step closer. She stopped, tears visibly welling up in her eyes._

 _"Can I… be a hero, too?" Izuku asked, pointing at his hero, tears on the brink of falling._

"God damn it!" several of the students cursed as they watched Midoriya-san break down, apologizing to her son. Those who were able to keep from crying look to the boy, who was back in his little cocoon, only his face and one hand visible. The hand was clutching tightly to Yagi-san's shirt, while the man had his arm wrapped around Izuku, pulling him closer.

Toshinori himself couldn't help the stab of guilt. No, he didn't know about the boy's mother's reaction to his question, nor was he wrong, but dear god that didn't stop the guilt from what he told the boy on the roof. Yes, he eventually changed his answer, but he still said no at first.

 _"No, that's not it. That's not it, Mom. What I wanted you to say back then was…"_

 _The scene cut to show the middle school Izuku just about to step under the bridge._

"Wait, are we not going to find out what you wanted your mom to say?" Satou asked, turning to Izuku.

The green haired boy shook his head. "Probably not yet. I mean, someone did eventually say it, but it was after…" he explained over his onscreen counterpart's pep-talk.

"Huh, I wonder who could have possibly told him the right answer," Aizawa spoke up, sarcasm dripping off his comment. He side-eyed All Might, who in return gave a shaky grin. Well, he'll find out soon enough, and hopefully won't have to strangle the number one hero.

 _"Hahahaha!" Izuku gave his best All Might laugh, not noticing… something congealing behind him._

 _"Haha-" The boy finally picked up on something, as he cut off his laugh and turned around. His eyes widened as he took in the large amount of slime growing right in front of him._

 _"A villain?!"_

 _"A medium-sized invisibility cloak…" The villain's voice came out bubbly, like he was speaking through some kind of liquid. Which is actually a very accurate description._

 _The middle schooler's legs finally started to work as he turned and started to run. Sadly, the villain was faster, and leaped at the boy, encircling him and stuffing its slime down all his air holes._

 _"Don't worry, I'm just going to take over your body. Calm down, it'll only hurt for about 45 seconds. You'll feel better soon."_

"Okay, that looks fucking terrifying, and we're just watching it. Midoriya, how are you not freaking out?"

"Hm? Oh, it was scary, yeah. However, right now, I'm trying to figure out who was scarier, him, or All Might pretending to be a villain during the final exam," Izuku admitted, shrugging. Honestly, compared to Stain and Shigaraki, the slime villain wasn't that scary. He wasn't as efficient of a killer as the other villains the class has encountered.

"All Might playing the villain? Now that must have been fun," Gran Torino commented.

"Both boys passed," Toshinori stated, trying not to look at his old teacher.

"Not without Midoriya getting another broken bone," Aizawa added. At the boy's protest, he continued, "Though that one was because of the teacher and not the problem child himself."

"Eraser, what did I tell you about teasing your students?"

 _"I- I can't breathe!" Izuku internally screamed, claying weakly at the slime covering his face._

 _"You can't grab me! I'm fluid!_

 _"Thanks for your help. You're my hero. I didn't think that_ he'd _come to this city," the villain explained while on camera, Izuku's struggles were visibly getting weaker and weaker._

 _"My body… there's no strength! Am I- Am I dying?_

 _"Somebody! Somebody!"_

"Now where's the one that was chasing the villain?" Aizawa asked, his voice absolutely terrifying. Just then, a flash of electric blue light streaked across the black screen. In response to Aizawa's question, the man in question just pointed at the screen.

 _Bam!_

 _The manhole cover soar into the air, catching the villain's attention. He turned, before expressing shock at whatever-or whoever- had just come up. The camera panned around from behind the villain to reveal a very familiar looking muscular man._

 _"It's all right now, young man," All Might spoke, stomping his foot down and standing tall. "I am here!" rang out, much to the audience's cheers. Yes! Finally!_

 _The cover hit the ground and the villain snapped out of his shock. He swung out a whip of slime, which the hero just ducked under before charging forward._

 _"Texas Smash!" the man cried out, throwing his fist at the villain, the air pressure generated scattering the villain and causing him to release a barely conscious Izuku. The boy had just enough to recognize his hero before passing out._

 _The scene then cut to Izuku, on his back, with a tanned arm smacking his cheek quickly and repeatedly. "Hey! Hey!"_

Aizawa groaned, dropping his head into his hands. "That is not how you treat a rescued civilian who fainted." Did he seriously have to explain that to the NUMBER ONE HERO?! As if to piss him off further, both the man in question and _Midoriya_ held up 3 fingers. So he had used up all his time chasing a villain and this was how Midoriya found out? Dear god, why was the man trusted with the care of children when he couldn't take care of _himself_?

 _"I'm so glad you're okay!" All Might said, apparently ignoring Midoriya's obvious, obvious freak out._

 _"Sorry 'bout getting you caught up in my villain fighting," the man continued. "I don't usually make mistakes like this, but I was in high spirits on my day off in a new place." The hero laughed, with several students joining when they saw Izuku's face._

 _"But, you were a big help. Thanks!" The hero then held up a bottle that contained the green slime and two floating eyes._

"Hey, this may seem like an odd question to ask, but did anyone notice that the villain that attacked Midoriya kinda looked like the slime one that captured Bakugo a year ago?" Sero asked. Murmurs rippled through the group of students. He wasn't wrong, and several, mostly those who saw the news footage found themselves agreeing. Both Aizawa and Present Mic eyes were growing larger as they listened. Meanwhile, the two who knew what happened were trying to look in the opposite direction, and Gran Torino was sitting in his chair, rubbing his temples.

"Hahaha…" Izuku started, looking only at the far wall in the exact opposite direction of his classmates. He then gulped hard, his face pale. "Sorry, Kacchan."

It took a beat for Bakugo to realize what Izuku meant by that, and after that, the only thing stopping him from exploding on the poor boy was Kirishima literally holding him down, and Merritt's gag held firmly in place. Everyone else was just looking at the smaller boy in shock.

"To be fair, it wasn't all Young Midoriya's fault," All Might spoke up, looking just as uncomfortable as his student. "Most of the fault lies with me."

"We will be discussing that later," Aizawa states. "However, right now, Merritt, may I please have something to write on and a pen?" The requested items were popped into existence. The disheveled man grabbed them and immediately started writing.

"What's that for, Aizawa-sensei?" Tsuyu asked, tilting her head to the side while her finger rested against her chin.

"Since apparently the five who failed the final aren't the only ones who need remedial lessons, I'm making note of who needs to go over what."

"Is that really necessary, Aizawa-kun. It was mostly-"

"Shut it. If I could, I'd be doing the same to you," Aizawa said, pointed the end of the pen at Toshinori's face before he went back to writing.

"Oh, just leave him to me," Gran Torino spoke up, immediately sending Toshinori into a panic, his body visibly shaking. "I'll make sure to go over the lessons he apparently needs a reminder on." Both homeroom teachers, current and former, exchanged very vicious smiles, which honestly terrified their students. Even Mic was a little unnerved.

"Yes, well, if you want an accurate tally, you'll want to finish the series. Good news is that there's only a few more minutes of the episode!" Merritt chimed in before starting the show again.

 _"The number one hero… All Might… He's the real thing… He looks completely different in person." Izuku's internal fanboying concluded with a close up of the sun shining off All Might's teeth._

 _"Oh, right, an autograph! Where should I-?" Izuku searched around him, trying to find the appropriate place to have the autograph, ignoring the backpack on his shoulders. Finally, he saw his answer._

 _"In that notebook!" he exclaimed, seeing his burnt and waterlogged Hero Analysis book that he dropped after being grabbed by the villain. He opened to the next available page only to see All Might's autograph already covering both pages._

 _"He already did it!" Izuku then started bowing frantically to the hero, his head just a blur as he thanked the blond. All Might, meanwhile, watched one, not even glancing down as he pushed the bottle containing the villain into his pocket._

 _"It'll be an heirloom! A family treasure!"_

"One that'll be passed down the Midoriya line for generations?" Merritt said. Apparently, that wasn't supposed to be heard, as they quickly followed it up with, "Shit, sorry. That was a joke on how All Might's voice actor in the English Dub also played Major Alex Louis Armstrong in both versions of FMA." This satisfied the children, as those who actually understood the reference were very pleased while everyone else just accepted it and moved on.

 _"Well, I need to take this guy to the police. See you again on the other side of the screen!"_

 _"Wait, already?"_

 _"Pros are constantly fighting villains and the clock," All Might explained, stretching out his legs._

 _Izuku took a step forward, but no words came from his mouth. "Wait… There are still… things I want to ask."_

 _"Well then," All Might started, before bounding into the air and raising his voice. "I'm counting on your continued support!"_

 _There was a slight beat before All Might finally picked up on what was off. He turned to look over his shoulder, and sure enough, there was Izuku, clinging to his leg, the wind pulling at his mouth and eyes._

"Well, that explains it," Aizawa said, making a note on his piece of paper. "Midoriya, 5 days. 4 for getting in the way of a hero doing their job, and fifth for grabbing onto the legs of someone who could easily leap several kilometers in one jump."

"Yes, Aizawa-sensei."

 _"Let go of me! Your fanaticism is too much!"_

 _"I-If I l-let go now, I-I'll die!"_

 _"That's true."_

"Well, isn't that a familiar scene."

"Gran Torino, I was not that bad."

"No, you're right, you were worse."

 _"I… have… a lot of things… I want to ask you directly!" Izuku somehow managed to get out while his face was being pulled off._

 _"Okay, okay! I get it, so close your eyes and mouth!" Izuku immediately followed those orders, tucking his head into his hero's leg. All Might himself moved to get a better hold on the boy as he looked for a place to land. His other hand came up to his mouth as he coughed._

 _"Shit."_

"WHY IS ALL MIGHT COUGHING UP BLOOD!" the students exploded.

"FIRST HE WAS INFLATING AND NOW HE'S COUGHING UP BLOOD! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"

"Ahem!" Merritt's voice rang out. Instantaneously, the students settled. "Thank you. There's only a few more minutes in this episode. And then your questions will be answered in the next. Think you kids can wait that long?" Not wanting to upset the weird being more, the class just nodded.

 _Izuku was shown to be extremely shaken up by his unexpected flight, his lips dried and eye lids pulled back. All Might, meanwhile, was not looking at the boy. "That was scary…"_

 _"Good grief! If you talk to the people downstairs, I'm sure they'll let you down. I am seriously out of time, so I really must go." All Might started to walk towards the edge of the roof, never once turning to look at Izuku._

 _This snapped the middle schooler out of his trance. "Wait, um-"_

 _"No! I will not wait!"_

 _"But-"_

 _"You should probably give up," the doctor's voice echoed._

 _The boy's outstretched arm started to retract as his mother's voice was once more heard apologizing to him and Bakugo's earlier taunts following shortly after._

 _"That might be true. But, even so, I…" Izuku clenched his fist, his shoulders tense. Finally, the boy found his voice again._

 _"Even if I don't have a quirk, can I become a hero?" This got All Might's attention, leading him to pause before the guardrail. "Can someone without a quirk be like you?"_

 _All Might turned to look over his shoulder at the boy. The boy who was tense, as if preparing himself for the answer that could build him up, or tear down every hope he had._

 _"My meeting with All Might… This miracle… At the time, I couldn't even imagine how much it would change my fate."_

 _The scene then cut to a drawing clearly out of the now damaged Hero Analysis, though it wasn't one of the currently active pro-heroes. Instead…_

"Hey, isn't that Midoriya's costume?" Ojirou asked, pointing at the screen.

"Oh god, you're right!" Hagakure quickly agreed. Now that it was pointed out, it wasn't hard to notice the similarities between the drawing and the suit.

"Uh, yeah, Mom saw that sketch and made the first version of my costume. After it was destroyed in the Battle Trial, the Support Department decided to keep the basic design but tweaked it and added more support," Izuku explained, his head no longer hidden under the blanket, instead just resting against All Might's side.

"Whelp, since this show is following Midoriya, we can't expect All Might to stay out of either the opening or closing," Satou joked.

"Mm, yes, one stable of both the openings and closings will be at least one of the UA teachers in each, though one of the endings doesn't contain All Might at all," Merritt chimed in as Izuku was shown running into the dawn. "That brings me to another point, from now on, so long as there are no objections, I'll be skipping both opening and ending songs, unless there's a new one. It'll save you kids time, as the show doesn't get evolving credits." No one seemed to have any objections to that, and went back to watching the closing.

"Aww, Deku-kun looks so happy, playing with your All Might figure!"

"So cute, Midori!"

All Might, however, noticed the sock on the younger Midoriya's foot, and recalled to earlier during the flashback, he only wore socks when at the doctors, not at home. Guess it made sense, as very few like reminders of how they are different than everyone else, especially in a place of comfort like home.

 _The ending continued, showing Izuku continuing to run, though did change it up a bit when he tripped and then started to wipe away some tears. The entire time, the sky continued to lighten, though one star stayed bright and visible the entire time._

 _Two pictures of Izuku with tears running down his face were shown, one clearly from when he was younger, and the other far closer to their time. Then the screen cut to one last shot, this time a trail of footprints running along a path next to a clear beach._

"Nice to see that even in the ending, Midoriya is known for his crying!"

"I'm not that bad!"

"To be fair, he has improved a lot in the past year," All Might attempted to defend. It didn't help much given that the class has already seen the Midoriya tear ducts in action.

"I'm more curious as to why Midoriya was shown running along a beach," Yaoyarozu spoke up from her spot on the floor, next to Jirou.

"Ah, that'll be shown soon enough," All Might explained, Izuku next to him shuddering at the blur of those ten months on Dagobah. "Actually, now that I think about it, that might actually give Aizawa-kun ideas either for community service or punishment for you kids."

Aizawa's eyebrow rose at that, and went even higher by Midoriya's protests.

"Not again! Yes, it was good for muscle building, but I was sore every day for ten months!"

"Yes, but how much of that was due to you just over working yourself?" All Might countered.

"What, Midoriya!" Iida immediately jumped up to start scolding the boy. "You must be careful when you are doing any kind of training, as overworking yourself can be just as harmful as not pushing yourself, if not more so!"

"Yes, Iida-kun, I know that. I just didn't have a lot of time."

"It doesn't matter! No matter how pressed for time you are, you should always take care to make sure any training is done safely!"

"So," Kaminari cut the class rep's lecture off, causing him to turn to scold the blond about manners, "now that Iida's entered mom-mode, shall we break out the snacks and take a break before next episode?"

"Yeah, why don't we do that. I mean, the sooner we get that started, the sooner we can have our questions answered. Especially since I kinda doubt Merritt-san and Yagi-san are going to allow us to interrogate Midoriya about this."

The class quickly agreed and dispersed, most heading towards the snack table, and some the restrooms. Even Mic got up to stretch his legs while Gran Torino went over to scold Toshinori for all the stupid things he did as All Might during the course of the episode. Aizawa worked on the calculations for the extra remedial lessons, as well as started to think of lesson plans for them.

* * *

 **Finally, it's up.**

 **So I wanted this to be a weekly thing. Then I realized how long an episode took. Then life took over and we got a few snow days, which lead to me being asked to come in for work, and when I wasn't, oh boy my mind decided to hate me. And then, while browsing the BNHA wiki, I came to realize how screwed up the Todoroki family is (Endeavor himself is 45 and blood type AB, his youngest son is 15 and type O, meanwhile, Fuyumi is a school teacher and therefor has to be in her 20s). Sorry this took so long guys. It was actually your replies that gave me the motivation to keep going, so thank you. Feel free to comment and leave some critiques if you have any!**

 **Also, I might post a little aside thing about what Merritt is doing the entire time, if you guys want (it'll only be about 100 words or so). If not, no skin off my back. It was just inspired by recent stuff and thought it was funny.**


	3. Ep 2 What it Takes to Be a Hero pt 1

**Yo! Chapter two! I swear I did not set out for this to be as funny as it has become, nor did I expect it to be this big. So just a quick thank you everyone who reviewed this and favorited it! I got back to most everyone who did review in PMs, but there are a few I couldn't so I'm just going to cover them here. Also, please read the AU down at the bottom as I do have some info you may like to know, as well as a request for you guys to fill. Thank you!**

 **Please Adopt: I think I'm going to need you to be a bit more clear on your prompt. I thank you for asking for it, because it shows you like my writing style, but I don't quite understand what you're asking for. Sorry.**

 **Now, I've decided that I'm going to kinda break up the episodes, just due to one simple fact, depression is kicking my ass right now, and whenever I do get the motivation to write, my aunt has something else planned that day. I know, it's most likely not what a lot of you want, and I'm sorry, I'll come back and post the rest soon, I just felt bad about promising something today and not being able to follow through. This chapter is just up until the opening, so if you want to wait until the rest of the episode is up, you are welcome to. I'll try not to do with with all episodes, but I can't promise that there won't be more like this.**

* * *

"Damn, Merritt did not hold back on the snacks," Jirou commented, eyeing the piles junk food, cereal bars, fruit, bread, and… taiyaki? There was also a microwave, toaster, and a fridge, which was apparently full of drinks.

"Yes, and they were even kind enough to provide each with a nutrition card containing possible allergens!" Iida praised, browsing the selection and grabbing a few cereal bars.

"Well, now that that's over," Gran Torino, leaving a thoroughly chastised All Might to be comforted by Izuku, turned to the class. Then, like a switch, "Who are all of you?"

What.

"A-ah, Gran Torino-san," Uraraka started, leaning over a bit to be closer to the elder's height, "we're Class 1-A at UA. We're Aizawa-sensei's students."

"Who?"

"Aizawa-sensei? Eraserhead?" Sero joined in. What was up with this guy?

"Who?" Seriously?

"The guy who's taking notes on how many remedial lessons Midoriya's going to have?"

"Who?" Is this real?

Watching on, Izuku could only sigh. He stood up and walked around Gran Torino. He then kneeled down in front of the retired hero.

"Gran Torino, why don't you sit down and I grab you some taiyaki?"

For a second, the students thought that'd snap the elder out of whatever funk he was in, but apparently not. Instead, he just chirped out an "Okay!" and went back to his chair, patting his hands against his knees while waiting for Izuku. The boy just got up, walked to the table, and started loading taiyaki onto a plate.

"Make sure that the plate will fit in the microwave and let it rotate! Unless you're going to have another revelation about your quirk! Or compare yourself to taiyaki again! That was fun!"

"Damn it," Izuku grumbled, much to the shock of those near him. "Are you ever going to let that go!"

Instantly, Gran Torino's face cleared up. "Not a chance! It's way too fun to tease you and Toshinori here! I swear, I still get a kick out of how he reacts to that little sweetheart he was friends with back in middle school!"

"Gran Torino!" All Might jumped to his feet, though immediately sat down after Gran Torino sent a glare his way. Izuku stood by the microwave, looking between his two mentors with curiosity. All Might only mentioned his time before having One for All once, and that was only to say that he was just like Izuku when the boy was having his doubts about being a good successor.

"Wait, All Might had a girlfriend back in middle school?" Kirishima asked. There were a few students who were also looking at the elder in slightly pleading looks, everyone else was looking at the red-head like he grew another head. The man in question wound up spitting up blood, caught off guard by the boy's choice of names.

"Kirishima, why did you call Yagi-san All Might?" Touru asked. Kirishima himself blinked before turning back to his classmates, his eyebrows scrunched together.

"Wait, you mean to tell me you guys haven't figured it out yet? It's kinda obvious."

"Yeah," Mineta of all people chimed in, grabbing a bag of chips from the table, "I mean, look at how Midoriya and Yagi-sensei have been interacting. Only person I know who can get Midoriya to calm down that quickly is All Might."

Yaoyarozu nodded along. "Plus, there's the fact that we saw that when All Might isn't doing hero work, he is quite underweight. We also saw him cough up some blood while Midoriya was clinging onto his leg, something that Yagi-sensei has done a few times already today."

"Mm, and the way that the adults have been interreacting with each other," Todoroki added as he sat down in front of the couch again, cold juice in hand- he wasn't taking his chances with the unfamiliar cans of what he guessed was soda. "Several times, whenever All Might would do something in the show, Aizawa-sensei would make a comment like he expected the man to hear it. Not only that, but Gran Torino has scolded Yagi-sensei about things that wouldn't make sense unless Yagi-sensei and All Might were one in the same."

"Also," Tsuyu had her finger on her chin, looking at her classmates as they were thinking over the evidence provided, "when Yagi-sensei was introducing himself, he said his was helping Midoriya-chan with his quirk due to how similar theirs were to each other. The only person who had a quirk similar to him is All Might, who is also helping Midoriya-chan with his quirk."

"You guys are also forgetting that both Deku and All Might gave themselves away, twice."

The entire class turned to stare at Bakugo in shock. He had his gag off? Plus, when did they give themselves-

The blond just rolled his eyes and grabbed a bag of spicy chips, along with the hot sauce. "Deku said, when All Might first showed up, 'that's why _you_ were chasing him,' implying All Might was in the room. Then, there was the fact that Yagi-sensei tried to take the blame for the sludge bastard getting away, which would be rather hard if he wasn't there. And on top it all, how many fucking people call Deku 'Young Midoriya'?"

There was a pause as all the information sunk in. Then Aizawa pulled up the piece of paper he had been working on and began writing. "So everyone but Kirishima, Mineta, Yaoyarozu, Todoroki, Asui and Bakugo are getting remedial lessons on basic observation, though Midoriya will actually be having one on how to better hide confidential information."

"Yes, Sensei."

"Eraser, you are so mean to your students."

* * *

The students settled themselves back in. Izuku had apparently managed to find a portable stove and a frying pan- that or Merritt provided them for him- and came back with two plates, one with properly heated taiyaki and the other with a single fried egg and a slice of toast covered in peanut butter. He handed the taiyaki to Gran Torino and then the other to Toshinori.

"My boy," Toshinori said, as Izuku once again got settled in his previous spot. "You didn't have to make this for me."

"If I didn't, you'd try to skip several meals, saying you weren't hungry," Izuku pointed out. Several classmates raised their eyebrow at this, meanwhile Gran Torino just scoffed and nibbled on his fish shaped pastry.

"Well, if there's one good thing about Midoriya's regular visits to Recovery Girl, it means she has a new helper in getting you to actually take care of yourself," Aizawa deadpanned, finishing some last-minute notes while Present Mic tried to shove a juice pack in his face.

"Honestly, this isn't needed. I don't get hungry that much."

"Toshinori, stop fighting this and eat your damn food."

"Plus, your lack of hunger isn't a good indicator when you don't have the organ that says when you're hungry," Izuku countered, actually adopting some of Aizawa's demeanor. Wait, what did he say about not having an organ?

"Why do I get the feeling you're talking from personal experience, Midoriya-kun?" Present Mic asked, his eye brow raised and juice pack still shoved in Aizawa's face, though the disheveled man was now drinking it.

"He went down two belt sizes when we were training together before the entrance exam."

Jesus Christ, they actually found someone that took care of themselves less than Midoriya Izuku.

"As concerning as that is," Merritt spoke up from wherever they were, "I would like to inform you that the next episode is ready whenever you are, and that the sooner you finish, the sooner you all can get back and Aizawa-sensei can start writing the lesson plans for your remedials."

 _The screen up front was black but started playing as soon as everyone was watching. Instantly, the music that had been heard whenever All Might first appeared on screen last episode started playing, along with the famous laugh._

"God damn it, we aren't even a second in."

"Wait, didn't we already watch little Midoriya geek out over All Might's debut?" Satou asked, confused about the repeated footage.

"Ah, it's probably just recapping the last episode," Kaminari explained.

"Yeah, they tend to do that since these episodes normally air only once a week," Ashido added, as the flashbacks continued to play and Dr. Tsubasa was once more on screen.

"Do we fucking need to watch this shit again?"

"Admittedly no, but it's almost done."

 _"Even if that's true…" Izuku narrated as he was shown on the rooftop, clenching his fist. Bakugo's demonic rage face then took over, his palms smoking._

 _"You're bellow the rejects! You're quirkless! How can you even stand in the same ring as me? What the hell can_ you _do?"_

Once more, Izuku tried to bury himself into All Might's side, the man's arm wrapped around his shoulders. The other students were shooting him some worried glares, while Todoroki and Uraraka were just glaring at Bakugo… and was that a growl from the brunette? The blond just shifted away from their general direction a bit.

 _Once more on the roof, Izuku continued to reflect on the past, recalling his mother's reaction to his wish to be a hero despite not having a quirk._

 _"Even if that's what everyone thinks… I… Even so, I…"_

 _"Even if I don't have a quirk, can I become a hero like you?" The boy finally blurted out at his idol's back, causing the man to pause. "Can even someone without a quirk be like you?"_

 _All Might turns to look over his shoulder, his grin never dropping as he observed the cautiously hopeful boy. "Without a quirk?"_

 _However, before he could continue, a flash appeared on the screen, and his face scrunched up. He then doubled over, grunts of what could only be suppressed cries of pain escaping and steam rolling off him._

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

"HOLY SHIT!"

"OH GOD, IS ALL MIGHT OKAY?!"

"Why is there steam?!"

"Oh god, why is he in pain?!"

While the students were panicking, cackling could actually be heard overhead, which actually increased the general panic in the kids.

"Are- are you actually enjoying this?" Present Mic found himself asking Merritt, because dear god that sure wasn't Aizawa, no matter how much he seemed to enjoy All Might's suffering. His… more controlled tone helped settle some of the panic, reminding the students it was a show. A show based off Midoriya's life, but still a show.

"Just the kids' reactions," the other worldly being admitted, saying that in such a nonchalant tone. Dear god, what have they gotten into? "Hey, I had to go through a lot of shit to bring you here, let me have some enjoyment out of it!"

 _"It might have been because I don't have a quirk, but I'm always made fun of…"_

"Midoriya, look up."

"How did you not notice that?!"

"Hahaha… I sometimes get a little lost in thought and I don't notice things going on around me."

"I would include that in remedial, but earlier has proven that everyone in this class needs lessons in observation. Maybe I should make that the next unit."

"Look at you, Eraser, setting a good example by not swearing in front of the kids. Which reminds me, if any of you even try to use the words All Might is using in your next paper for me, I will take off half a point for every time they're used."

"Yes, Mic-sensei."

 _"But I think saving people is super cool," Izuku continues, not noticing the giant cloud of smoke where the hero was as it slowly dissipates. "Saving people with a fearless smile. I want to be the greatest hero, like you…"_

"Well, now we know what kind of hero Midoriya's going to try to be."

"…I thought that was obvious after talking with him for just five minutes?"

"Oh god, Todoroki!"

"He is right though!"

"That's what makes it so funny!"

 _Finally, Izuku looked back up to where his hero was standing, just as the cloud blew away to reveal… Yagi-sensei._

 _"Wha?!"_

Seeing their classmate freak out caused a few of them to chuckle.

"Okay, so the opening would play here, so if you want to quickly grab a drink from the fridge or a snack from the table, feel free," Merritt said, pausing on the view of the top of the city. A few students, including Izuku, got up to grab themselves something to eat or drink, despite having a clear opportunity just a few minutes prior.

"If we hadn't already discussed how Yagi-sensei is All Might, I probably be freaking out too," Uraraka admitted, with a few classmates nodding along. It was still surprising to see, and they were curious as to how it happened, but they weren't as shocked as anime Izuku.

"Yeah, it was quite surprising when I first found out," Izuku agreed, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. He then reached over and grabbed a protein bar.

"Oh trust us, dude, we saw," Kaminari shot back, grabbing a can of soda.

"What I'm more shocked about is Kirishima getting it right. I mean, he was the first to mention Yagi-sensei and All Might being the same person, and I don't think I saw anyone talking about that before he brought it up," Jirou pointed out.

"Ah," Ashido responded, sipping on her juice package as she got back to her seat, bag of cookies in hand, "Kirishima is actually really smart when it comes to people, just not studying. Remember when he predicted who'd win every race we had when we got back from our field training! He even got Sero beating out Midori, despite his sick new moves and ability to use his quirk without breaking his bones!"

"Of course, even if I knew about Midoriya's new skills, I'd still believe in my bro!"

"Bro!" Sero responded, his hand over his heart and a tear in his eye. Most of the group smiled at the open display of the bromance between the tape user and red head, while the three more cynical members just rolled their eyes.

* * *

 **Yay, next chapter is up! Woot, woot!**

 **Okay, so a few things:**

 **1) Yes, I did the research and found out the kind of diet a person who has had a gastrectomy would require, and Toshinori Yagi is going to be sticking to one if I and Izuku have anything to say about it.**

 **2) Yes, Toshi also had a middle school sweetheart before he went to UA. I'll go more into detail on that at a later point, though you are free to leave your speculations in the comments. I'll try not to give away spoilers, but she is not an OC.**

 **3) I actually post barely edited version of these chapters on my deviantart, if you want previews. You are free to check them out, though both Fanfic and AO3 have the more polished versions that are also more... together.**

 **4) What animals would you give each of our characters? I mean, I already have Izuku, All Might, Uraraka, Todoroki, Iida, Kouda, Asui, Aizawa, Present Mic, Bakugo, Kirishima, and Tokoyami decided upon, so I only need the other half. This'll make sense later, but just leave your suggestions in the comments, and if you really want to make a suggestion for those I already have, feel free. And for all suggestions, please include an explanation. For example: Tokoyami- Raven because 1) his head and 2) he's an edgelord, and you can't get more edgelord-y than Poe.**


	4. Ep 2 What it Takes to Be a Hero pt 2

**Oh god, everyone, thank you for all the support and kind words you have given me. It truly is incredible reading all your comments, and I have no idea how I managed to get all of you wonderful readers. I am just astounded by all of you. I do have a couple of things to say at the end, so please go read that!**

 **Also, I have started school again. Not that that should have much of an effect on my releases because hahahaha... I can assure you I will be continuing! *determined face***

* * *

 _The screen faded in to show the Tatooin Shopping District and its cheery welcome sign._

"I just realized how much of Star Wars fans the city's founders must have been," Kaminari commented.

"That wasn't already obvious? I mean, _Tatooin_ Station and Shopping District, _Orudera_ Middle, _Degobah_ Beach Park," Jirou snarked.

"There's a beach park?"

"Oh right, you're from out of town, aren't you, Uraraka-chan? Yeah, Degobah Beach isn't too far from Tatooin Station, only about 10-minute walk," Touru explained cheerfully.

"No one goes there though because it's a giant dump," Ashido added on, shoulders slumping and her lips in a pout.

"Wait, you didn't hear?" Kirishima asked, eyes wide. At the responding questioning looks and head shakes, he actually started bouncing. "It's all cleaned up now! Someone's been cleaning it for like a year, and it's really beautiful now!"

"Holy shit, seriously?"

"How, that place was a total dump!"

"Ah, yes, I've seen it," Iida spoke up, his arms waving in accordance to his words. Both Uraraka and Todoroki leaned out of the way. "You see, I tend to run by Degobah on my morning jog, and actually saw the progress being made when the beach was being clean. However, I, like many others I've talked to, have no idea who's been doing the restoration."

"Yeah, that's the biggest mystery about the whole thing! No one knows who did it! I mean, there's plenty of rumors online, but nothing confirmed. Some think a local Yakuza got some new recruits to do it so they can use the beach, others think a few hero interns got together to do it, and another group thinks someone had been practicing their quirk on the garbage and that's why it disappeared so fast!"

"Wait," Yaoyarozu chimed in, her eyebrows scrunched together, "didn't the ending depict Midoriya running along a beach? And All Might did say that the reason why it was shown might give Aizawa ideas for a community service project? And then Midoriya said something about building muscles for ten months?"

All the students turned to look at their classmate, who was not looking at them and holding the water bottle he had grabbed earlier up to his mouth in a way that could only be so as to avoid questions.

"No way. I mean, I know Midoriya is strong, but there's no way he did that in less than a year. Especially all by himself," Ojirou tried to deny. There is no way the skinny thing they saw could clean an entire beach by himself. Then again, this was Midoriya, who could be surprisingly persistent _…_

"Well, it looks like we'll have to continue watching if we want to see if Yaoyarozu's theory is correct," Aizawa stated, looking towards the screen.

 _The camera panned around the shopping district, showing people going on their daily lives before pulling in to focus on a dark alley with a single bottle lying about. Looking closely at the bottle revealed the slime villain that had previously attacked Izuku just as he was waking up._

 _"Wh-where am I…? What happened…?" the villain managed to ask, before flashing back to the Texas Smash._

 _"Oh yeah… That bastard… If it weren't for that bastard…"_

 _"Hey, Katsuki, aren't you and Midoriya childhood friends?" One of Bakugo's lackeys from earlier could be heard just as the three boys were shown on screen, Bakugo finishing off a can in such an odd way._

 _"You went a little overboard today," the other one pointed out._

The class just deadpanned at the screen. _A little?_

 _"It's his fault for getting in my way," Bakugo explained, emphasizing his nonexistent point by kicking Chekov's gu-the soda bottle and releasing the slime villain._

 _"Don't let it get to you."_

 _Bakugo thought back to earlier, when Midoriya was explaining why he was trying for UA. "It's just been my goal ever since I was little. And well… I won't know unless I try…"_

 _"He's an idiot dreaming like a kid." Bakugo lit off an explosion, destroying the can. "Just watching him pisses me off."_

"Okay, there is no way you'd be holding a can like that if you weren't planning from the beginning on exploding it."

"Don't you know, Bakugo's all about the theatrics. Why else would he use his explosions when he could probably fly just by the force of his anger alone!" Mineta chimed in, making sure there were several classmates between him and the blond. This got a laugh out of the kids while Bakugo just glared at Mineta. However, he would not attack, that'd probably get him more remedial lessons at best.

Aizawa, meanwhile, was scratching something onto his paper. Present Mic leaned over his shoulder to get a look and found himself nodding along. Bakugo definitely needed anger management classes just like Midoriya needed counseling.

 _The two lackeys shared a glance before deciding to change tactics. "Then, why don't we go to the arcade for a change of pace? You'll come too, right, Katsuki?"_

 _"Yeah."_

 _"Then let's go to the one in front of the station!" the boys discussed, not noticing the sludge getting closer to them. "There's lots of prey there."_

 _"You're terrible."_

 _"What? If we get caught, it'll end up on my record!"_

"Right thing to do for all the wrong reasons," Aizawa stated.

 _"Hey, look," the two lackies said, pointing at something behind their boss._

 _Bakugo turned just in time to see the slime take form. "An invisible cloak with a great quirk!"_

"And this is another reason why it is illegal for people without a license to use their quirks so openly. Villains may see a quirk they like and either use them as a hostage or abduct the person," Aizawa explained.

"Kids especially, given just how raw their potential is, and how they have a harder time defending themselves against grown adults," Present Mic added on.

"Heroes also have a hard time as it can be difficult to tell when it's a civilian just using their quirk, or a villain. And those who use their quirks to defend themselves can sometimes be hindering the heroes trying to save them than helping," All Might finished off. "It is not wrong to try and defend yourself, but as soon as a hero is on the scene, trust their judgement and experience as they have dealt with similar situations while the average civilian has not."

The students nodded in understanding at what the teachers were saying. They all knew the law, but they had never thought of the reason why it was there, outside of to avoid general chaos of everyone using their quirks whenever they wanted.

 _The title card appeared on the screen, reading in loud, red font: "What it Takes to Be a Hero."_

 _The show then jumped back to Izuku's freak out. The boy's eyes wandered all over All Might's body, mind just not making sense of what it was seeing._

 _"Y-y-you're deflating…!" Izuku screamed, All Might himself channeling Aizawa for the amount of deadpan he was giving the boy._

"Buwahahahah!" Kaminari couldn't help it as he burst out laughing, grabbing hold of his stomach as he leaned into Kirishima who was in a similar state. Several other students were laughing as the screen froze on All Might's stern face.

"Oh god, sorry, it's just All Might's reaction!"

"To be fair, you do look like a really grouchy old man," Present Mic pointed out, chuckling as his coworker rolled his eyes.

 _Izuku began to look around the otherwise vacant rooftop. "Wait, up until now… Huh?_

The room just erupted into laughter as Izuku accused All Might of being a fake.

"Oh lord, this is too good."

"I swear, I thought you said this one was smart?"

"He is… when he actually takes the time to think."

"Is the whole first meeting like this?"

"No… once I calmed down it actually got kind of serious," Izuku admitted, sinking lower into both the couch and All Might. The skinny man himself winced, though not from the physical pain.

"How serious are we talking?" Aizawa asked, glancing at where he knew the boy was, though could only make out the top of his mop. In response, All Might just waved at the screen.

 _All Might sighed before deciding to deal with the headache head-on. "I am All Might…" he started, though choked on the last syllable. Blood came spilling out of his mouth, leading to another screaming freak out from Midoriya._

"Please tell me we're getting an explanation for that, cause it's still not making any sense and is still freaking me out." Kaminari questioned, pointing towards the tv. Several other students nodded.

"Give it a minute," Izuku and All Might said together, in a bizarre synchronized manner.

"How much does Midoriya _know_ exactly?" Present Mic asked.

"Technically, he knows more than the UA staff, with the exception of Recovery Girl and Nedzu." This was met with two deadpan looks from the Homeroom and English teachers. "It wasn't all at once."

"That's hardly the point."

 _"You know how the guys at the pool are constantly flexing and posturing?" All Might explains, with an animation of a chubby man sucking in his stomach. "It's like that."_

"I-is it actually like that?"

"I don't know. I've always assumed that there's a transformation component to All Might's quirk."

"Well, you're not wrong, kid," Gran Torino admits. Izuku perked up quite a bit at that, stars shining as his mind raced at the possibilities- "Get your output to 50% and then maybe we'll talk about it." All the air was let out, Izuku hunching forward in his seat.

 _"No way… There's no way… All Might is fearless… He saves everyone with a smile… He's the greatest…"_

 _"A fearless smile, huh?" All Might sighed before sitting down. The lighthearted music playing throughout the scene finished fading out to silence._

 _"Now that you've seen me like this, young man, make sure you don't write about this online, even accidentally."_

"Um, I know that this is probably a matter of national security, and Midoriya wouldn't do that anyways, but what's the point of saying that?" Kaminari asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like anyone's going to _believe_ him if he tells them he saw All-Might deflate like a sad, muscly balloon animal!" Ashido chimes in. Coughs immediately broke out as some of the group choked on their own spit (or blood), while others tilted over with laughter.

Aizawa looked like he was sending a silent prayer for patience… or death, either one. "It doesn't matter if anyone would believe him at the time. If Midoriya were to have posted about that online, and then All Might's secret got out to the world at large, that would put Midoriya at risk because how would he have gotten that information if he wasn't close to All Might himself?"

"Plus, there is my title as the Symbol of Peace," All Might added. "We already have seen once this year what a group of villains would do just to try and kill me. Now what if they found a way to find me when I am out as a civilian? Imagine the chaos that could bring."

The children's faces dropped. They hadn't considered that. Yes, most people wouldn't believe what All Might actually looked like, but villains were generally unstable, and Shigaraki had proven to be especially so. If he had any inkling on how to find All Might when the man wasn't in hero form and caught him off guard…

 _Izuku leaned forward, his eyes wide. There was the sound of fabric being pulled, a second pause, and then Izuku flinched back in what could only be horror._

The class all had very similar reactions to the scar presented in its full grisly glory. In front of them was pretty much an angry crater in a man's side, right where the spleen should be.

"You really showed him that on the first day?" Present Mic asked.

"I figured it would be easier if I showed him. After all, if someone with a strong quirk geared towards combat can still be injured like that…" All Might trailed off, wincing. It took the adults a second to make the connection, their eyes widening. All Might wouldn't have… Not to _Midoriya._

 _"It's an injury I got from an enemy's attack five years ago. Half my respiratory organs were destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. I became emaciated from repeated surgeries and the aftereffects._

 _"Right now, I can only work as a hero for about three hours a day."_

 _"Th-that can't be…" Izuku responded._

"W-wait, only three hours?" Uraraka spoke up. "B-but Hero Studies is an hour and a half long, same with 1-B."

"A-and, before USJ, didn't you help like a shit ton of people?" Sero added. Everyone on the floor was at least two shades paler, realizing just how close they were to being screwed during the villain attack.

The teachers offered no comment, no comfort to assuage their worries. Eventually, they swallowed it down, going back the show.

 _"Five years ago… Was that when you fought Toxic Chainsaw?"_

 _"You're well informed. But a punk like that couldn't defeat me._

 _"This fight was not made public to the world. I asked for it not to be._

 _"I will save people with a smile. The Symbol of Peace cannot be daunted by evil. I smile to show the pressure of heroes, and to trick the fear inside me." Izuku took a sharp inhale at this new information. All Might, scared. Does not compute._

"Just like Crimson Riot."

"No hero isn't scared when they're on duty. One slip could easily mean the deaths of an innocent, or our own," Aizawa explained, recalling the horror of villains attacking his students- _children_ -and nearly having to witness one's face disintegrated. "To not be scared is just being stupid. However, we cannot let the civilians see that, or else how could they trust us to keep them safe."

"A hero's job isn't just to save lives, but also provide hope that everything will be okay."

 _"Pro-heroes are always risking their lives. I cannot simply say 'You can become a hero even without power.'"_

Both All Might and Izuku winced at the words as did the other Pros. While All Might was kind about it, there really was no gentle way of saying it. Pros put a lot of time and dedication into their work. Aizawa trained for years before UA, and that training only got more intense there. Yes, he fought practically quirkless, but so did majority of his opponents. A quirkless hero would not have that luxury.

The students… were not so understanding. Merritt actually snapped back on several gags to the more vocal protesters. Others just radiated unhappiness. Only a few seemed to agree with the teachers.

"Okay, so obviously some disagree," Merritt said. "Now, I'm going to have to ask you to recall that this was over a year ago, and time tends to change things, whether that time be 10 months, or a couple of hours."

 _"I-I see…"_

 _"If you really want to help others, then you can also become a police officer. They're often teased because they get villains delivered to their doorstep, but that is also a fine occupation," All Might added, getting up to walk away. He made it to the door before stopping to add, "It's not bad to dream. But you also have to consider what's realistic, young man."_

A growl could actually be heard from in front of All Might. A very murderous aura surrounded Uraraka as she glared at the screen. Several of the surrounding students leaned away, while Iida put his hand on her shoulder.

"U-Uraraka-san, it's okay. All Might wasn't wrong, I did need to think things through a bit more back then. B-but it's fine now, right?" Izuku stuttered, giving a wobbly smile. Everyone just gave him a rather critical look before Present Mic looked up.

"Hey, Merritt, can I get a highlighter and a pen, different color from what Eraserhead has?" Both items appeared right before the man, who quickly uncapped the highlighter and dashed something on Aizawa's paper before going in with the pen and circling whatever he highlighted.

"Mic-sensei?"

"Just somethings to do for when we get back."

 _All Might closed the door behind him, going down the stairs coughing. He moved his hand to his pocket, checking on the villain, who was **not there**. The walking skeleton began looking around, like he had just dropped both bottles in the stairwell. Conveniently, a loud explosion went off in the distance, and smoke could be seen from the window next to the man._

 _"Don't tell me…"_

"Well that was convenient." Jirou commented.

"Fate often twists events to make sure everything goes as planned." Tokoyami tried to explain, only to be shot down by the other worldly being watching them.

"Eh, not really. She's more of a bitch who thinks she's always right and that the future can't be changed. Honestly, she's the biggest headache I get during these kinds of events."

"Wait, so the future can be changed?" Ojirou asked.

"What do you think the whole point of this was? To torture your teachers and classmates? Yeesh, why do you mortals like to think there's no changing the future. I mean, not even your perception of the past is set in stone, what makes you think your future is?"

 _The scene quickly cut back to Izuku, who also noticed the explosion._

 _"A villain? What hero will be there?" Izuku immediately fell back on old habits and turned to run towards the scene of danger. Well, he was until he thought back to what All Might had said. The boy stopped in his tracks, his face dropping more and more before he let a breath out and left._

"Midoriya-kun, you weren't…" Iida asked. It was rather hard not to instantly jump to that after what they have seen so far. But he's here now, right? That has to account for something!

"Hm? A-Ah, no, I'd never!" Izuku assured, waving his hands in front of him. Several classmates let out the breath they were holding. "Besides, I could never leave my mom like that…"

There was a pause, then a clicking of a pen as Present Mic leaned back over into Aizawa, aiming for the paper. Aizawa in response slapped the blond's hand away.

"Yes, I know, you don't need to make anymore notes!" Aizawa continued to smack his colleague all without showing the paper to any of the kids. "I'll bring it up with Hound Dog as soon as we get back!"

 _Back with All Might… how does that man do hero work with ease but can barely run 10 city blocks as a civilian?_

 _At Tatooin Station, people ran around as explosions ripped apart store fronts. Death Arms and two unnamed heroes arrived quickly on site just to witness the slime villain completely encapsulate Bakugo, only the latter's hair visible._

 _"A child was taken hostage?!" Death Arms could be heard as Bakugo struggled to pull away from the villain. "You coward!" Death Arms threw a punch. It was not effective._

 _"What_ is _this? I can't grab hold!" Death Arms tried to pull his arm out of the slime, but only wound up making himself an easy target for the villain's swipe. The muscular man flew back into a storefront. The two other heroes ran forward only to be sent back by the villain._

 _"Heh. Don't come near me!"_

 _"Rargh!" Bakugo cried as he managed to free his mouth from the slime. "I won't let sewage like this swallow me!"_

"Is there any sewage you would let swallow you?" Kaminari asked the explosive user.

"Shut up, you half-baked Pikachu."

 _Bakugo continued to fray his vocal chords screaming at the sentient sludge while unleashing more powerful explosions. Said explosions proceeded to push the heroes back slightly while leaving the villain unaffected._

 _"What power! I've hit the jackpot! With this Quirk and power, I can get revenge on that guy!" the villain monologued inside his head, grinning maniacally._

"Holy shit, he doesn't even see you as another person!"

"Huh, totally have no idea how it feels to not be recognized as another human being instead of just a vestal for a quirk," Todoroki deadpanned, though no one could tell if he was being serious or sarcastic. At least no one but the one that followed him up without missing a beat.

"Or to have your entire worth determined by the lack of one."

There was a slight pause as everyone turned to look at the two boys. "Anything you want to explain, Todoroki? Midoriya?" Mic asked.

"Not really, Mic-sensei." Izuku said, Todoroki humming in agreement.

"Alright, how about instead of what you want to explain, is there anything we should know about?" Aizawa followed up. Midoriya's was somewhat understandable, they were watching it right now. Todoroki's… was worrying.

"Mreh, you'll see," Merritt chimed in, sounding disinterested. Probably because she already knew what kind of shitshow this was, as well as when the rest would learn. "I mean, you're currently watching the reason behind Midoriya's comment. As for Todoroki… give it about 18 episodes."

"What happens in 18 episodes?"

Merritt proceeded to ignore the question and start the episode up again.

 _"Woah, what's that?! Could he be a big-shot villain?" one of the ever so helpful rubberneckers asked. Instead of answering, something else caught the audience's attention._

 _"She's here! The rookie hero, Mt. Lady!" Sadly, celebrations were cut off as she quickly noticed the problem with someone who had a gigantification quirk working in a metropolitan area like Musutafu. Other heroes also appeared on screen, only to be able to do one or two minor things to not really help the situation, but not make it worse._

"Wait, wouldn't it have been better for Backdraft were to focus on the source of the fires than trying to put them out? I mean, Bakugo could easily reignite them even if they are put out, and if he can't…" Jirou asked, looking towards her teachers. Aizawa was glaring at the Pros on screen. Well all except for Kamui, who actually got innocents out of fires. Instead, the Voice Hero was the one to explain things.

"It's possible that's true, as even if it didn't dilute the slime, it would dilute Bakugo's sweat and lessen the potency of his explosions. However, no one at the time knew what caused Bakugo's explosions, and dousing a suffocation victim with water when they're already struggling to breath is not a good idea. Plus, what if that were to just cause the slime to grow. I'm not agreeing with what the heroes did in this situation, I'm just explaining their choices" Mic quickly cut in, seeing many students start to jump in. It was good that they were analyzing the situation and coming up with strategies, but they did need to recognize limits, whether it be in quirks, or lack of information.

 _The sludge pulled Bakugo closer into its grasp, clamping harder down on the poor boy's airways. The villain then noticed some heroes approaching and lashed out, making them jump back._

 _"It's no use! There's no one who can take care of this at the scene right now!"_

 _"All we can do is wait for someone with a more suitable quirk!"_

 _"Let's hold back the damage until then!"_

 _"Don't worry, I'm sure that someone will be here soon!"_

 _"I feel bad for that kid, but he'll have to bear it a little longer."_

"Wait, they were just going to let Bakugo continue to suffocate!" the outcry rang out amongst the students. Seriously, they didn't know how long Bakugo could hold his breath for, especially while using his quirk and fighting back!

"God, what if All Might wasn't there! Or that quirk…less… middle schooler…" Suddenly things clicked, at least for those who heard the story and watched the video. Slowly, as one, they turned to Izuku, who, conspicuously, was holding his water up to his mouth, again. Then to Bakugo, who was doing his own version of a pout.

Gran Torino then cracked a grin. "So that's how, huh?" He didn't expand upon it, though both All Might and Izuku understood, the latter growing pink, while the former gaining a slight proud look before messing with the boy's hair. It was suddenly noted that Midoriya wasn't pressed up against his idol's side, and thinking back, hadn't been the last several times they've looked.

Deciding collectively not to comment on their most recent revelation, they turned back, only to see All Might finally get to the scene. The older Pro quickly realized what had happened and immediately started blaming himself.

 _"It was back then! I was too distracted by my time limit! I can't believe I made a mistake like this after admonishing that fan. Pathetic… Pathetic…" All Might scolded himself right before the title card appeared._

"What! But I was the one that distracted you!" Izuku immediately came to take the blame from his idol.

"Midoriya, stop." Aizawa cut the boy off. Right away, the greenet's mouth snapped shut and he turned to his black-haired teacher. "Both you and All Might had roles to play in the events that led up to this. However, for one, All Might should have known better as not only is he a Pro Hero, but has been one for many decades now. For another, I can tell that both of you have already beaten yourselves over this enough the past year, and I will not add another scolding onto it. Just learn from your mistakes and make sure to never make them again." Aizawa sighed. A problem child, indeed. "The same goes for the rest of you. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Sensei!"

 _After the eye catch, a boring view of the sky line was shown, just to reaffirm that all of this took place in the same town. It then cut to Izuku, his head buried miserably in his book as he made his way through the streets. The class got a nice look at both Chekov's entry and a Red Herring, though none noticed as they were too interested in the actual entries._

"Damn, Midoriya, I knew you took notes, but I didn't realize they were that good."

"Huh, will probably have to look through those entries to see how accurate they actually are," Present Mic said, trying to read as much as he could. Next to him, Aizawa was quickly scribbling down while muttering something about code lessons and Nedzu.

"Di-Did Midoriya write 'sexy' in his entry for Mt. Lady?!" This comment led to several members breaking out laughing. Several more, including the boy himself, turned a bright red. Noticeably, two members seemed almost pensive, one actually bringing her hands up to her chest.

"Wh-What! N-No, it's not like that! I-I was noting h-how she was marketing herself!"

"Oh, is that how it is?" Kaminari responded back with a big shit eating grin.

"Yes! Several female heroes like Midnight-sensei and Mt. Lady use their sex appeal, while others rely on cuteness! I just make notes on how heroes present themselves as well as their quirks," Izuku explained, curling in on himself and trailing off towards the end.

"That's actually really good, Midoriya," Mic cut in. "UA doesn't touch on it too much, and even then, it's not until your second year at least, but how you present yourself really does matter. For example, if you were to be shown as easily angered and prone to violence, you might not be called in as often for things that might require more emotional stability, even if you have a useful skill set. Part of the reason you don't see Endeavor doing hostage situations or kidnappings."

 _"Even a top hero said it." Izuku sighed, closing the book with tears just a hair's breadth from falling. He quickly scolded himself, which just drove the stake even further in. Thankfully, an explosion rocked him out of his spiral before unwritable things could be done to the number one hero._

"Wait, Midoriya just so happened to wander over to a villain fight without paying attention?" Ojirou was honestly impressed. It took serious muscle memory to be able to pull that off without even thinking.

"Now we see why All Might was laughing at Tokoyami's comment about Midoriya being drawn to these kinds of situations." Sero added. Jesus, walks with Midoriya would probably end either with watching a villain fight, or actually being in said fight. Coin toss really, now that they were training to become heroes and had villains gunning for them already.

 _Izuku slowly made his way over to the crowd, body on autopilot while his brain chided him for actions long ingrained. His head started to bob, trying to get a good view of the fight, ignoring that depressing voice inside that was raising a certain brunette's blood pressure. However, once he got a good view, he wished he hadn't._

 _"Why is that guy here?! Did it get away from All Might?!"_

"And now time for round two of Self-Blame: Midoriya Addition."

"Eraser, please stop picking on your students."

 _"Did he drop it?" Midoriya thought back, recalling seeing and then not seeing the slime in All Might's pockets. "If he did… then it's my fault…"_

Bakugo immediately turned to agree and take his anger out on the poor boy, only to have his gag snapped into place, hard. He toppled over, and immediately started clawing at the shiny material, while muffled screams could be heard. The students watched for a few second and then turned back towards the screen. Better to just let the explosive blond tire himself out.

 _"Why aren't the heroes doing anything?"_

 _"They can't. Apparently, the villain caught a junior high schooler. It's been like that for a while."_

 _These catch Izuku's attention immediately. "Caught…? It's been like this for a while? How can they bear that suffocation? I thought I'd die after a few seconds."_

"Midoriya, that's not something to be impressed by."

"I was more impressed by how much they were fighting, though it made sense once I found out it was Kacchan."

"Midoriya, most people fight pretty hard when something is trying to kill them."

"Oh."

There was a slight pause before once more Present Mic was leaning into Aizawa's personal space. And once more, he was being swatted away. "Hisashi, will you stop that! Yes, I know that we should start that as soon as we get back, but you drenching the paper in highlighter ink will not make that happen sooner!"

 _"Wasn't that the villain All Might was chasing earlier?"_

 _"All Might? No way! He's here?"_

 _"I think I saw him earlier."_

 _"Seriously?! Then what's All Might doing?!"_

"That's not going to end well." Shouji said, realizing the implications of the situation. A villain who All Might had been seen chasing, now causing chaos, seemingly without the Number 1 Hero around? Especially with Midoriya in earshot, watching the entire thing.

 _On screen, Izuku started to blame himself for another person's problems, all while trying to muffle his crying. And on just the other side of the crowd was All Might, gripping his old wound. Two peas in a self-loathing pod._

 _Izuku sent his best wishes to the poor innocent trapped, hoping that a hero with a suitable quirk would appear soon. The villain pulled the child's head back to reveal a slightly familiar face, though it didn't click until the eyes opened to reveal wide, red eyes._

 _Wide._

 _Red._

 _Bakugo._

 ** _Scared._**

 _Any and every thought left the small greenet's mind as he tore through the crowd, his legs moving to save his childhood bully. Everyone around him, especially All Might, was thrown into a panic seeing small boy run to confront the villain._

Outcries immediately rang out! Yes, they knew what was coming, but did he seriously not have- right, Midoriya.

Aizawa looked like he was taking it the worst. His hands were in front of him in throttle positions, only for him to then bury his face in his now frozen fingers. He will be discussing self-preservation with the boy and Hound Dog as soon as they got back, they were not waiting for the school term to start again or even the training camp.

 _"Why did I run out?! What am I doing?! Why?!"_

 _"Die in an explosion!" the sludge retaliated, not realizing that his opponent had a PhD in dodging Bakugo explosions._

 _"What do I do? What do I do?!"_

"You ran in without a plan?!" Iida cried out! How? Midoriya seemingly always had a plan. Except for maybe Stain. And All Might. And if Asui-san was to be believed, USJ… never mind.

 _As if answering, Izuku's mind pulled up its own version of his notebook and opened to Kamui Wood's entry. Immediately highlighted was the explanation of Pre-emptive Binding Lacquered Chain Prison on page 25. In a fit of inspiration, the boy shrugged off his backpack and threw it at the sludge, nailing the villain in the eye with a pencil case._

 _This endeavor immediately proved far more fruitful than what the heroes had been attempting. It actually gave Bakugo the chance to breath, unobstructed by sludge._

"To be able to understand the purpose behind another hero's moves and retool them to work in your own situation…" Gran Torino knew the boy had a good head on his shoulders, but that good while untrained?

"And all within a few short seconds while panicking…" Present Mic agreed. Midoriya Izuku was clearly more than they expected.

The students themselves were impressed and also confused. Yes, they knew that their classmate was good at analyzing heroes, but to the point of impressing two Pros? Honestly, the only ones not impressed were All Might, who was probably used to it and had maybe read some entries in that infamous notebook, and Aizawa, who… wait, didn't he put hard page limits on the last several of Midoriya's analysis papers?

 _"Why are_ you _here?!" Bakugo coughed out, almost sounding like he was scolding his rescuer._

 _"My legs moved on their own!" Izuku responded back, clawing at the sludge. "I don't know why thought!"_

"Oh good, even the problem child doesn't understand why he did what he did," Aizawa said, unknowingly coining his own personal nickname for the boy. Present Mic it seems has given up on scolding the other Pro and was just shaking his hung head.

 _"I think there were various reasons," the future narration added on, thankfully giving some answers to the questions everyone was answering. It then flashed back to all the people in his life that told him he couldn't, from Dr. Tsubasa all the way to All Might. But right before the answer, it was just black. "But at that moment…"_

 _"You looked like you were asking for help…"_

"Shit."

Everyone turned away from the screen where Deku was saving his first person while wearing a smile on his face, over to Gran Torino, who had his face buried in his hands.

The elder took a deep breath before giving his student a Look. "Really, Toshinori? You had to choose someone so much like Nana?"

There was a pause as the taller hero blinked, before a lopsided grin broke out across his face. He then reached up to rustle Izuku's hair, for which the boy (happily) accepted. "You say that like it's a bad thing, Sensei."

The elder just scoffed, but his grin was all the answer needed. However, only the two of them understood, and they happened to have an audience.

Izuku turned to his mentor and looked at him. "Wait, was Nana-san…?"

Toshinori's grin turned soft, indulgent, with a slight touch of sorrow. "Ah, my mentor."

O-oh. Izuku's eyes automatically started to water at the admission. To be compared to the one that… the one that meant so much to All Might…

There was nothing stopping the flow of tears, though no one was too worried, as it was clearly a different brand than the ones from the previous break down. Though no one else understood exactly what was going on, they could figure it out pretty easily.

Instead of trying to ask questions about the fun history of their teacher/colleague, they went back to the show. Though Aizawa made note to again scold the Symbol of Peace about favoritism.

 _Somehow All Might heard what the boys had said (One for All empowers hearing? the senses as a whole?) and started berating himself with renewed strength, though at least buffing up this time._

 _"Just a little longer," the villain commented, almost gleeful while killing a young teenager. Wait, no, his eyes definitely showed glee. Then, he realized the current threat to his plans and rose his hand like appendage to swat away the teen even smaller than the one he was trying to kill. "Don't get in my way!"_

 _The Pro Heroes finally started moving at this, running to pull the boy away while questioning his mental health. However, the one that got there in time was a surprise to everyone, tanking the explosion._

 _"I really am pathetic," a deep voice said. Izuku, not feeling the expected impact, let down his guard, only to be met with the sight of his idol, who had already run out of time that day, with his arm buried in the villain's slimy body. "Even though I admonished you, I wasn't putting what I said into practice!"_

 _The muscular man broke free, grabbing onto Bakugo's arm with his other. He then swung his arm forward, all while pulling both Bakugo and Midoriya behind him. Blood spewed out of his mouth as he gave his last piece to Midoriya before calling his attack._

 _"Pros are always risking their lives!"_

 _The gale produced caused the two boys to swing wildly with each other, grounded only by All Might holding onto their arms. Ahead, Mt. Lady shielded many civilians with her arms while forcing herself as low as she could just so_ she _wouldn't be blown away. Overhead, what could only be a category 5 tornado whipped up, though thankfully dissipated after a few short seconds._

"Holy shit," Kaminari could only say.

"Jesus Christ!" Ashido agreed.

It was not hard to see why the kids were taken away. All Might rarely used that amount of force, so it was rather hard to gauge just how much power he actually had. This, this was another level.

…And someone managed to injure him in a fight.

 _All Might was shown panting with exertion. The other Pros looked on in awe, not noticing the sudden darkening of the sky. It wasn't until some of the civilians watching noted the sudden change in weather that they reacted._

 _"Rain?"_

 _"Don't tell me it was from the wind pressure just now…"_

 _"An updraft developed and…"_

 _"He made… clouds…?"_

 _Thankfully, the ones closest to All Might were the two boys, knocked out from being so close to the epicenter. Else someone might have noticed the blood trickling from the Symbol of Peace's mouth, despite no other wounds visible._

 _Instead, cheers for the successful hero rang out among the crowd, everyone ecstatic at seeing just how much hold over nature the larger than life idol seemingly had. The man himself held his hand above his head, hiding the brief moment he lost his balance. Almost no one would have noticed it, not unless you were looking at his feet as he rocked back on his heels._

 _A quick look over his shoulder at his soon to be student, passed out from the excitement and the amount of pressure his body wasn't used to being near. Yet._

The students themselves were celebrating. Yes, they knew the outcome. Most had seen it on TV themselves. But that? Feeling so close to the action, with the music hyping up their emotions? That was something else.

"Holy crap, that was awesome!"

"All Might just blew the slime away!"

"Did you see that tornado!"

"Holy shit, and this is only the second episode!"

"And it's not done yet. You kids have a few more minutes left," Merritt said, ending the cheers.

"Wait, what? But All Might defeated the slime villain," Uraraka chimed in, almost forgetting her anger at the pro hero. Actually, all the students seemingly have.

"Yes, what more could there be in the episode to take up several minutes," Iida responded. He had also been caught up in the festivities, though his own merriment was… slightly more subdued than his classmates'.

"A certain pair still need to have a conversation about what had just happened."

This set the kids on edge. There were really only two pairs that could be referring to, and one was likely not to happen. Recalling the last conversation, the two had on screen, the mood dropped. At least it did for everyone except Izuku, his face flushed ever so slightly and… was he hiding… a smile?

 _"After this, heroes collected the scattered sludge, and safely delivered it to the police."_

 _Izuku was shown looking over at All Might, who was surrounded by news reports, all trying to get the latest scoop. Sadly, for the poor boy, he was not so lucky._

 _"Jeez, there's a limit to how rash you can be! There was absolutely no reason for you to put yourself in danger!"_

"What?! But if Deku-kun didn't run in then who knows how long Bakugo would have been in that situation!"

"Yes, but he still ran out and put himself in harm's way," Aizawa cut off. Hopefully his students would listen to him, even if they didn't stop to think things out themselves. "Remember, no one there but Midoriya knew about All Might's time limit. From their perspective, All Might either got lost or held up, and Midoriya running out just added another potential casualty.

"As for the problem child, he does need to stop putting himself in danger and start thinking of a plan before he leaps." There was a pause as the words sank in, and then another as things were considered, because, well, Midoriya. "This will not be the last time I'm going to be saying that, will it?" The resulting silence was answer enough. "God damn it, I should have expelled you all on the first day."

 _Apparently, the scolding/praising went on for quite a period of time, as the next scene was set as the sun started to set, and everything was cast in a golden glow. Izuku was shown making his way home, his head down._

 _"I wanted to apologize to All Might, but he was being interviewed… I'll try sending him a message on his website when I get home."_

 _"Deku!"_

 _"Kacchan…?"_

 _"I never asked for your help! And you didn't help me! Got it?!"_

"Bakugo, could you, maybe, calm down on the rage just a hair? You're really starting to seem like one of those small angry balls of fluff people call dogs."

"OMG! That'd be so cute! Puppy Bakugo! Barkugo!"

Instead of the screams that were expected, there was only silence. Looking, the students found their classmate, still gagged, murder in his eyes, and flipping them off as hard as he could. It was not as intimidating as he had hoped as most of the students surrounding him all just laughed, along with others outside their circle.

 _"I was fine by myself! You're a quirkless failure playing without a full deck! Don't think you can look down on me! Are you trying to make me owe you?! Don't look down on me! Damn nerd!"_

"Is that Bakugo's way of trying to protect Midoriya?"

"No, it seems more like he's just mad that Deku-kun saved him."

"Mm, he most likely didn't want to be saved by anyone, but Midoriya would have been the bottom of the list."

 _"It's just as Kacchan said. It's not like I accomplished anything, or changed something. But I'm glad. Now I can think of a realistic future…"_

Once more there was growling. Once more Uraraka seemed almost like a demon, ready to rid the world of its Symbol of Peace. And once more, everyone leaned away.

 _"I am here!"_

 _"Wha?! A-All Might?! What are you doing here?" Thankfully, Midoriya had managed not to scream that. "You were surrounded by reporters until just now…"_

 _"Hahahaha! Getting away from them was a piece of cake! Why? Because I am All Migh-" and the triumphant theme that had been playing in the background screeched to a halt as the hero deflated in a puff of smoke and a spray of blood. Of course, Midoriya reacted like a normal person, despite already having seen both from the man at least once that day._

 _After the boy calmed down and All Might stopped coughing, the hero got straight to business. "Young man, I have come with thanks, a correction and a suggestion."_

This caught the everyone's attention. The last time the two spoke was not kind on Izuku, but this… was this where their relationship actually started? Izuku himself thought back on the day, a slight chuckle coming out when he recalled how he acted when learning about One for All.

"Anything you want to share with the class, little listener?" Present Mic asked. It was actually rather nice seeing the boy seemingly in a better mood. The first episode had been hard, and this one not much better. If he could smile and laugh about what came next… Maybe things would be okay.

"Huh? Oh, just remembering my reaction to All Might's… 'suggestion'."

"Oh, you can remember that through all the tears?"

"Hey!"

 _"If you hadn't been there… If you hadn't told me about your life… I would've turn into a guy in a bodysuit who was all talk. Thank you."_

 _"That can't be… It was my fault in the first place. I got in the way of your work, and I said all those impertinent things even though I'm quirkless…"_

 _"That's right. It was because it was none other than that timid, quirkless you at the scene that I was able to act."_

"Damn…"

"So Midoriya-chan actually did help Bakugo."

There was a slight, low growling from the other side of the room than the last three had originated from. However, no other actions were taken under Aizawa's glare. No one was that stupid, not even a pissed off Bakugo.

 _"Top heroes have stories about them from their school days. Most of these stories have one thing in common: Their bodies moved before they had a chance to think."_

 _A faded Deku ran out of the crowd and at the slime villain, the soft music starting to swell. The meaning behind All Might's words sinking in as tears started to well in the young man's eyes. Fighting them back, Izuku bowed his head._

 _"For some reason, I remembered my mother's words," the narration spoke up, followed by the faint memory of Mama Midoriya apologizing to her son. The well of emotions became too painful for the future hero, choking him with the pain from the past, and the fragile hope that somehow had yet to die._

 _"That was true for you, too, wasn't it?" That was what pushed him over the edge, the damn broken as Midoriya Izuku sunk to his knees, crying in front of his lifelong idol._

In the crowd, emotions also ran rampant. Most of the students had their own tears, and while none were bawling like Midoriya on screen, they weren't exactly shy about it either.

Amongst the teachers, Present Mic was not ashamed of his tears making up for Aizawa's lack of visible emotions. Toshinori and Izuku, who both had been there, obviously, shared a smile. This was a nice memory close to both their hearts. Gran Torino watched both his students with a soft look.

Oh, what Nana would have given to be here and see Toshinori with his boy.

 _"That's not it, Mom. Back then, I wanted you to say… The words I wanted to hear were…"_

 _"You can become a hero."_

 _"Dreams can become reality." The scene froze, showing the sobbing boy kneeling in front of the man that gave him his dream, and his reality._

 _"By the way, I forgot to mention that this is the story of how I became the greatest hero."_

"Eh?" Error, unable to process.

"Well, that's a twist," Aizawa snarked. All Might himself broke out laughing. Mic was shaking his head in amusement, just realizing how interesting the next few years will be.

"Okay, if it were anyone else in this class…" Kirishima said, trailing off.

"But since it's from _Midoriya_ … A future version, yeah, but still _Midoriya_ …" Sato pointed out.

"Just because that's what the show said, doesn't mean it will happen," Todoroki cut in. Everyone tensed, ready for another tense declaration of war between the two. Midoriya turned and watched his friend as the half redhead turned to look directly at the greenet. What he noticed, and the others didn't, was the slight softness, the lower tension. This wasn't a declaration of war… "After all, any of us can snatch the top spot for ourselves."

It took a second, but only that to get the challenge that was not hidden. Izuku felt his mouth pull into a grin. Oh, so that's what Todoroki was doing?

"Well then, we're all going to have to work hard to get there! Hope you don't go easy on me!"

The other two of the group were the ones who understood next. "To go easy on you would be an insult to your drive, Midoriya, as well as the fine institute that we are attending!"

"Plus, we're all aiming to be heroes, Deku-kun! Why not aim for the top and go Plus Ultra!"

It was only now that the rest of the class had caught on. Each with their own grins, ready to face what future comes at them in such a way that only teenagers could pull off. The adults looked on fondly. Maybe there was actually some hope for what was to come.

* * *

 **Yes, the episode is finally done! Again, thank you for all the kind words and support you've given me up until now. I really do like this series, and even as I read other stories that cover events from canon, my mind starts wondering how our kids would react (and what remedial lessons Aizawa would be giving).**

 **Now for a couple of quick things:**

 **1) I am still taking animal suggestions and will for the next couple of chapters! I have actually gotten a few suggestions that I really like, so I've since settled on Aoyama, Ashido and Shouji's (though with Shouji, I still need to decide upon the exact species). That means that I still need suggestions for Oujiro, Kaminari, Sato, Jirou, Sero, Touru, Mineta, Yaomomo, and Torino! I also am trying to decide upon specific species/breeds for other characters (so like Izuku and All Might are both bunnies, but Izu is a Holland Lop and his dad is a French Lop). Those characters are Asui (frog, duh), Iida (dog), Kouda (turtle/tortoise), and Shouji (octopus(how did I not choose that the first time around?)). So please leave your suggestions down in the comments!**

 **2) I decided to add a couple new pairings, but again, background. One is somewhat canon. I just thought it'd be cute. Also, I'm still not telling you All Might's sweetheart, though someone pointed out that I'm the one who gave away their sex. You are right, but I will say that sweetheart in my family is generally used towards females, and so does my version of Kirishima. Sorry for those who wanted All Might to be gay. He's still in the GSRM community, but over on the ace spec instead.**

 **3) Yes, I decided to up the rating. Mostly because I realized these were teens, and one of them was Bakugo. Oops.**

 **4) Izuku actually sat up in this episode. He is no longer pasted against All Might's side. See, for the first and most emotionally taxing episode, he'd need All Might's comfort (why they were so affectionate, don't worry, other students will get their shot at comfort from their idol since Toshi is a giant, dorky, teddy bear). For the second one, it's just residue from the previous, and thus Izuku needs his dad less. Next episode he'll start sitting with his friends.**

 **Once again, thank you all for not only reading, but giving me such support. See you next time!**


	5. LifeUpdate

So it's been a while, hasn't it. I'm so sorry! Just life sucked the first 7 months after my last update to the point I contemplated just downing a bunch of sleeping pills a couple of times.

However, life is now looking better! I'm on meds and my family and friends are supporting me. I'm also looking at graduating in late March. And while I'm really hoping that the orange toddler didn't start another war in the Middle East (seriously, Syria just ended, Yemen and Libya are still going and uprisings are starting up again, the region does not need another war), personally life is going up.

Now for the part you are interested in: STMSTU. I have not given up on this, but I can't tell you when I'll be able to get the next chapter out. I was originally going to do it during the holidays, but my computer broke right beforehand and I really don't like writing on my phone. My computer is still in the shop and I haven't heard back yet. Plus even then, to graduate in March, I'm doing 20 credits, so I have a lot of work, plus I'm the volunteer coordinator for my local anime convention, which is in early April. So again, I will try to get it out, but I can't tell you when.

TLDR: life got worse but now it's better but because I'm busy for the next few months and don't have a computer of my own, I can't tell you when the next episode is coming. Sorry!


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